Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/monumentalbrasse00thor_1 MONUMENTAL BRASSES OE LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. THE Monumental Brasses OF Lancashire and Cheshire. WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PERSONS REPRESENTED. (Illustrated with Engravings from Drawings by the Author.) BY JAMES L. THORNELY. “ Etenim si defunctorum imagines domi positae dolorem nostrum levant, quanto magis hae, quibus in celeberrimo loco non modo species et vultus illorum, sed honor etiam et gloria refertur .” — Plinius Minor, Ep. ii. , 7. HULL: WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., THE HULL PRESS. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co., Limited. 1893. NOTE. Of this book 500 copies have been printed, and this is No preface. HIS little volume is an attempt to do, for the Counties Palatine of Lancaster and Chester, what has already been done for many other Counties by those who have lived in them, venerated their antiquities, and had their reputa- tion at heart. It represents a course of pleasant labours, a series of happy pilgrimages to many an ancient church, and hours of leisure spent in sweet communings with a stately past. The scope and object of the book will probably be sufficiently apparent in the following pages ; its tentative character, and, it must be added, its many short- comings, can scarcely fail to be so. The author’s best thanks for assistance, most kindly and generously accorded, are due to the Revs. J. H. Acheson, L. R. Ayre, C. G. R. Birch, A. Brown, E. Hoskin, R. H. Morris, G. W. Ninis, and C. A, Stolterforth, and to PREFACE. Messrs. James Bromley, George Esdaile, T. IS Morton, F. Musker, T. Harrison Myres, R. E Radcliffe, J. Paul Rylands, J. A. Spooner, an W. S. Weeks. The Plates which illustrate this volume ar reproduced from pen-and-ink drawings made b the author from “rubbings,” most of which wer taken by himself, but a few of which were kindl made for him by friends, or lent to him from thei collections. Liverpool, Dec. ist, i8gs. Contents DATE. LAN CAS II I RE. NAME. PLACE. l'AGE. 1458. John Huntington - Manchester IS c. 1460. Margaret Byron - * 39 c. 1480. An Ecclesiastic - - - - Eccleston - 53 1485. Piers Gerard - - - - Winwick - 61 C- 1485- Sir Ralph Assheton and wife Middleton 69 c. 1500. Scarisbrick - Ormskirk 81 1515- Bishop James Stanley - Manchester 1 13 ISIS- Ralph Caterall, wife, and children Whalley - i3S 1522. Edmund Assheton Middleton i45 I524. Henry Norris and wife Childwall 1 S3 IS27- Sir Peter Legh and wife Winwick - 169 1528. Margaret Bulkeley Sefton 187 1531- Alice Laurence and husbands Middleton 201 IS48. Sir William Molyneux and wives - Sefton 209 IS68. Sir Richard Molyneux and wives - ,, - 223 1586. Thomas Beri - - - - Walton-on-the-Hill ■ 241 1606. Myles Dodding and wife Ulverston - 249 l6l8. Richard Assheton and wife Middleton - 259 1623. Seth Bushell - Preston 269 16 39- Thomas Coveil - Lancaster - 2 77 1650. Ralph Assheton and wife Middleton - - 289 1460. CHESHIRE. Sir Robert del Bothe and wife Wilmslow - 27 c. 1460. A Lawyer - Chester 45 1506. Roger Legh, wife, and children - Macclesfield 9 i iSiS- Ralph Dellvys and wife Wybunbury - 103 1577- Hugh Starky - Over - - 231 A History of Monumental Brasses THE MONUMENTAL BRASSES OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. H 1biston> of monumental Brasses. T HE increasing favour which monumental brasses now find in the eyes of the public is very largely due to the discovery of a means by which they may with comparative ease be reproduced in facsimile, and a permanent copy of the brass thus obtained. The pioneer to the excellent system of copying brasses now in vogue was Craven Ord, who about the year 1780 formed a valuable collection (now in the British Museum) of impressions taken on paper by filling the incised lines of the brasses with printer’s ink. Besides the great trouble and care required in carrying out this process, it presented the further objection that the effigy was reversed in the copy. Not long afterwards, however, the heel-ball process was 4 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. costly and far more durable than that alloy.” It was made principally in Flanders and Germany, and especially at the city of Cologne. In cases where it was wished to portray the colours of the robes worn, especially where heraldic blazonry was represented, portions of the surface of the brass were enamelled in colours, and sometimes it was inlaid with different metal. It is thought that the incised lines were originally filled with pitch or composition of some kind. It should be clearly borne in mind that the monumental brass was originally a substitute for, and was copied from, the recumbent effigy of carved stone. Consequently the brass figure represented a : person lying supine, very often with his head (if a knight) upon a helmet or cushion, and his feet upon a lion or hound, as in the stone monuments. It is not until the art has greatly declined that this primary idea is lost sight of, and the person is represented as standing upon the ground. The transition from one idea to the other is well illustrated in the Scarisbrick brass engraved in this volume. Mr. Boutell has divided these monuments into four classes, — military, ecclesiastical, civil, and miscellaneous. Of these divisions, the first is of I A ms TOR Y OR MONUMENTAL BRASSES. 5 much the most frequent occurrence. Beginning with the thirteenth century, we have an uninterrupted series of handsomely accoutred knights down to nearly the close of the seventeenth, exhibiting all the changes and improvements, and illustrating the gradual transition from mail or chain to plate armour, which took place within that period. Under the second division, our churches and cathedrals exhibit a long line of ecclesiastics, attired in all the pomp and splendour of the Roman Church. Thirdly, there are the civilians and their wives, together with the ladies of the knights and barons themselves. Under the head of “ miscellaneous,” Mr. Boutell groups all such monumental brasses as are not included within the preceding classes, and they comprise many curious designs, including a great variety of crosses of rare elegance and beauty. The earliest brass extant is that of Sir John D’Aubernoun, at Stoke d’Abernon in Surrey, dated 1277 ; but our records tell us of earlier examples having once existed. The latest — or about the latest — is dated 1776. In our own day even, to a limited extent, the brass holds a place among our monuments, but it is as a revival, not 6 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. a continuation, of the mediaeval art. Many of the earlier examples in this country are of Flemish design, and are easily distinguished by their great elaboration of ornament, their size, and certain other characteristics. There are a few other points to be noted with regard to monumental brasses in general. The earlier specimens were remarkable for boldness and vigour of design ; the darker folds of drapery, etc., were indicated by deep and wide lines, while narrower lines represented the lighter folds. At a later period the broad lines were dispensed with, and the effect of shadow produced by cross-shading along the folds. This treatment was extremely effective until carried to an extreme : the later examples are marred by a multiplicity of small cross-lines, and lose much both in boldness of outline and general breadth of effect. Not the least beautiful feature of these ancient monuments is the canopy or tabernacle which is in many cases introduced above the head of the figure, and rests on slender columns. Shields of arms are frequently among the accessories of the monument, and a quadrangular strip of brass usually surrounds the whole design, and not A HISTOR Y OF MONUMENTAL BRASSES. 7 infrequently the symbols of the four Evangelists occupy the corners. On this strip of brass the name of the deceased and the date of his death are inscribed, and occasionally a scroll bearing some pious prayer or ejaculation is placed above the head of the effigy. Who would not prefer the humility which finds expression in the brief appeal : “ Fili Dei miserere mei,” which is to be found on many an old-world brass, to the fulsome eulogistic epitaphs of a later, and a ci-devant less superstitious and more civilised age ! Mr Boutell has in no wise overrated the importance and value of monumental brasses. “ To the genealogist,” he says, “ they afford authentic contemporary evidences ; to the herald they furnish examples of the original usage in bearing arms, and authorities in the appropriation and adjustment of badges and personal devices ; the architect here will find, in rich variety, the details and accessories illustrative as well of peculiar modes of arrangement and combination as of the distinctive characteristics of style and design ; the chronologist hence may deduce authentic data to determine, with truly remarkable exactness, successive eras, and epochs : the artist has before him original compositions, illustrating 8 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. the early excellence, and then the progressive, though happily only temporary, decline in the art of such pre-eminent importance, that of incision : to the general antiquary, from the same source, widely diversified information will accrue ; the palaeographer also is hence enabled to fix the distinctive form of letter used at certain periods, together with the prevalent peculiarities of construction and abbreviation, conformable for the most part to that which is found in legends depicted upon stained glass, in illuminations, or on engraved seals. Of the important judicial testimony deducible from brasses, the decision upon the Camoy peerage affords a remarkable and memorable example. ” Turning our attention more especially to the Monumental Brasses of Lancashire and Cheshire, we have already seen that this portion of the kingdom is comparatively poor in memorials of this kind. Only twenty-six examples are given in this volume, and it is thought that these comprise very nearly all that are to be found within the confines of the two palatine counties. Moreover they cover a period of only two hundred years, from 1458 to 1650, — that is to say, the latter half (and A HISTOR Y OF MONUMENTAL TRASSES. 9 the inferior half so far as workmanship and design are concerned), of the whole period of about five hundred years during which this class of monumental effigy is to be met with. We Lancastrians and Cestrians can boast of no Flemish brasses; of none of those 13th century effigies of mail-clad warriors and crusaders which enrich the churches of the south ; and of no examples of that lesser but beautiful and highly interesting class, the brasses of wealthy citizens, merchants, and civilians. Yet, with these deficiencies frankly acknow- ledged, our small collection furnishes ample grounds for an honest and honourable pride on the part of those whose lives are spent, and whose ancestors, perchance, have lived and died in these counties. Knights, esquires, and ladies, richly attired in various styles of armour or peaceful apparel, and churchmen of different grades, from the bishop downward, — these may bear comparison with contemporary examples throughout the kingdom. Moreover, in such instances as the brasses of Sir Peter Legh at Winwick, and Roger Legh at Macclesfield, the peculiarity of the design renders IO MONUMENTAL BRASSES. the monument one of especial value to the antiquarian world at large. Perhaps, however, the paramount interest which this small collection of monumental brasses yields will be found to lie in their biographical and genealogical instructiveness. To illustrate this remark it is necessary to do no more than remind the reader that the list comprehends the first Warden of the old College at Manchester; a Bishop of the House of Stanley, who was also for a time Warden of that institution ; numerous warriors who were prominent in the English army which fought and won at Flodden, and in other Scottish campaigns, and whose names are mentioned in the histories of Hollinshed and others ; the commander of the forces of the Parliament in Lancashire during the Civil War ; representatives of many of our oldest and most honourable county families, the Molyneux, the Ashtons, the Gerards, the Leghs, the Starkys, the Booths, the Scarisbricks, and the Norrises ; and a Governor of Lancaster Castle. A word in conclusion should here be said in reference to the few monumental brasses which have not been included in this little work. Firstly, there is in Flixton Church, in Lanca- A HISTOR Y OR MONUMENTAL BRASSES. 1 1 shire, a small quadrangular mural plate, re- presenting Richard Radclyffe of Ordsall and his two wives and children in a group, attired in Elizabethan costume. It was found impossible to take a rubbing of this brass, as the incised lines were filled in with pitch or some other substance. There was, however, little cause to regret its loss, as the monument is very poorly and inartistically designed. At Newchurch, in Winwick, were formerly brasses to William Ratclyff and Sir John Holcroft, and the children of the former. Nothing of these remains, however, except the effigies in brass of three daughters, in dresses closely resembling those worn by Sir Richard Molyneux’s wives, as represented on their brass at Sefton ; and with their hands raised in prayer. The inscription, in old English letters, reads : — “ Here lyeth y e bodies of Willm Ratclyff late of WylnTleigh and Astley in y e County of Lane 1 ' Esquier, and Anne hys wyff, Daughter of S r John Holcrofte knyghte, & foure of theyre chylderen, y l ys to say one sone and thre doughters which Wyllm Ratclyff dyed the xv th day of July in the yere of our lorde God mccccclxi, and in the thyrde yere of the reigne of Ouene Elyzabeth ; and also joyneing to this 12 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. lyeth the body of y e sayd Syr John Holcroft, knyght, which dyed in y e yere of o r Lorde 1560.” In the church at Middlewich, in Cheshire, in a chapel in the north aisle, is a small quadrangular mural brass plate, which is described by Haines as representing “ Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Sir William Brereton, and wife of Thomas Venables, Esq., Baron of Kinderton, 1591 ; and son Thomas, deceased, set. eleven ; and daughters Elizabeth and Mary ” (wife of Richard Assheton, of Middleton, whose brass, with that of her husband, is engraved in this volume). This brass plate is very small, but so worn that the figures can scarcely be made out, and a “ rubbing ” of it is almost an impossibility. Manchester Cathedral once contained numerous fine brasses, which would have greatly enhanced the value of our collection, but most of these have unfortunately been so mutilated as to leave nothing but a hint of what they once were. In the north aisle of the choir are two square brass plates with representations of Anthony Mosley and Oswald Mosley, and their wives and children respectively. Both monuments present the parents in Jacobean dress, kneeling before prie- Dieus, with inscriptions containing dates (25th A HISTORY OF MONUMENTAL BRASSES. 13 March, 1607, in the case of Anthony Mosley, merchant; and 9th November, 1630, in the case of Oswald Mosley, Esquire). Above are the Mosley arms. The fragmentary brasses we have mentioned consist of: (1.) A finely elaborated canopy, dating probably about the end of the fifteenth century. (2.) The fragment of the effigy of Sir John Byron (mentioned later in connection with the brass of his wife, Margaret Byron, which is nearly intact.) (3.) The figure of a knight, the substance of which is perfect, though the incised lines are so much worn as to be scarcely discernible ; this is supposed to have represented Sir Alexander Radclyffe, of Ordsall, who died, aged seventy-two, in 1548. (4.) By his side is the brass of his wife, which is interesting to archaeologists as an example of the palimpsest brass, i.e., one which is engraved upon both sides, an earlier having been turned and utilised as a later effigy. In an article in the “Palatine Note-Book,” for June, 1884, Mr. E. F. Letts describes this brass as follows : — “ The lady is dressed in a flowing veil with scalloped edges, and the straight robes of say Henry IV. Moreover, as the lines of the engraving go beyond the present edge of the brass, it looks i4 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. as if it had been cut down. In a few minutes the brass is unscrewed from its backing of oak, and reversed, when all is made plain. The counter- side is a lady in the dress of Queen Mary’s reign, with open gown-like robes, but the brass has been so rubbed away by the treading of feet, that down the centre it is worn through, and the graving is barely visible. This then is what happened : an old large brass of a lady — whether connected with the Manchester Cathedral or not it is impossible now to say, — has been cut down, engraved on the back, and made to do duty with another husband ; the feet are just visible, the front of the outer robe is turned back, disclosing the long cord and tassels, to which is suspended a little mirror ; the sleeves are loose at the elbows, and apparently edged with fur ; the hands are raised ; and, as far as can be seen, the head-dress has had bands to it.” The unhappy fate of these brasses, torn from their beds in the floor of the choir, and “carted away ” to make room for those tiles so dear to the heart of the “restoring ” church-warden, afford a sad com- mentary upon the work of the modern Vandal. Would that the present and future generations might take the lesson to heart while yet we have any of these sacred memorials among us ! 3obn Ibuntmgton, Warben of fIDancbester. 3obn Ibuntmotcm, Marten of Manchester. A.D. 1458. Manchester Cathedral. HIS simple but beautiful brass is — sad to say — almost hidden from sight in the crypt af the old Collegiate Church (now the Cathedral), :he sacred edifice which in his life-time it had been :he good warden’s delight to build and beautify. Its former position was in the middle of the choir. The brass consists principally of the figure of fohn Huntington, the. first warden of Manchester College. The expression of his face is tranquil md thoughtful : being a priest, he is of course losely shaven, and his locks are tonsured a- top. Tis hands are raised and joined in prayer ; his 2et are not visible beneath the amply flowing assock. The warden is attired in processional r canonical vestments, which are met with lmost exclusively in the brasses of members of ollegiate bodies, in which processions would be lore frequent. It is interesting to contrast them with the C 1 8 MONUMENTAL EE ASSES. Eucharistic vestments as seen in the brasses of Bishop Stanley, Edmund Assheton, and Sir Peter Legh, knight and priest. The processional vestments, as worn by Warden Huntington, consist of the cassock ( camisia vestis J, an under- garment reaching to the ground, with close sleeves. Over this he wears a surplice (super pellicium ), a robe extending to within about a foot of the ground, with very wide sleeves, and frequently plated, as in the present case ; but not open in front, as in modern times. Upon his shoulders he wears an almuce or amess ( almutium ), a hood of grey fur. “It appears to have been introduced about the 13th century, and in the 15th a cape and pendants were added to it.” ( Oxford Mamial of Brasses ). Accordingly, in Huntington’s brass we find the pendants attached to the hood. Very often, in addition to the other canonical vestments, the cope is worn,— a long cloak with handsome borders, and fastened by a brooch ; this garment is seen in the brass of the priest at Eccleston Church (represented in this book), but the Warden of Manchester is without one. Above the head of the effigy is a semi-circular scroll with the inscription : “ Dne dilexi decore JOHN HUNTINGTON. !9 domus tue ” (“Lord I have loved the habitation of Thy house).” There are also the mutilated remains of a once beautiful canopy, and of a narrow border encompassing the stone, and formerly bearing the inscription: — “Hie jacet Johannes Huntington, Baccalaureus in decretis, primus magister vel custos hujus Collegii, qui novo construxit istiam cancelam, qui obiit XT Mensis Novemb’ anno Dni miH’mo cccclviii cui’ a’ie p’pitietur Deus, Amen.” “ Here lies John Huntington, Bachelor of Divinity, first Master or Warden of this College, who rebuilt this chancel, and who died on the nth of the month of November, a.d. 1458, on whose soul may God have mercy, Amen.” At the corners of this outer ribbon were circular pieces, probably containing the signs of the four Evangelists. In August, 1890, Mr. T. Harrison Myres, of Preston, and others, obtained permission to enter the crypt of the cathedral for the purpose of taking “ rubbings ” of this brass. “The figure part of the brass,” says Mr. Myres, in the Preston Chronicle of August 23rd, 1890, “ is in a good state of preservation, but loose on the slab of Purbeck marble. . . . This inter- esting monument was removed from its original 20 MONUMENTAL EE ASSES. position in the choir about 1755, to its present place, on which occasion it is supposed the bones of the good warden and others interred before the altar were ruthlessly dug up, and scattered to the winds.” Hardly anything is known of this reverend ecclesiastic. He became first Warden of the newly-founded college in 1422. “Thomas de la Warre, the munificent contributor to the founda- tion of the college of Manchester, presented to William, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, John Huntington, Bachelor in Divinity, and rector of Ashton-under- Lyne, to be the first keeper or warden. The eight fellows associated with him consisted of two parish priests, two canons, and four deacons, to whom were attached four clerks and six choristers. The whole was then acknowledged as a body corporate, under the title of The Guild or Company of the Blessed Virgin in Manchester.” ( History of the Founda- tions in Manchester, 1834.) That he was deemed a suitable man for the post may be inferred from his selection. Hollingworth says that he “ was allowed to possess a considerable share of the learning most in request during the times in which he lived.” JOHN HUNTINGTON. 23 i is colleagues were John Raveald, Hugh Vrithington, Thomas Whitehead, Jacob lardisley, Roger de Parker, William Walker, nd John Brown. For want of sufficient resources it was resolved 0 build the collegiate church of wood, ^.s the greater part of the funds left by Thomas, Lord de la Warre, were devoted to the ollege, further contributions were wanted towards •uilding the church. Warden Huntington, therefore, who is escribed as “ a man of public spirit, attentive to he duties of his church, and anxious to complete nd adorn it,” erected at his own expense the hancel, which, like the rest of the building, was ntirely of wood. The old wooden church was edicated to SS. Mary, Denis, and George. It /as afterwards replaced by a building of stone. Huntington left his rebus as a memorial upon ne portion of the work built by him. A rebus is 11 allusive charge or device, the representations pon which have a punning allusion to the bearer’s ame. Thus Abbot Islip of Westminster bore a . lan falling from a tree, exclaiming “ I slip ! ” also human eye , and a slip (small branch of a tree), ohn Huntington’s rebus displays on one side of a 24 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. beam a huntsman, a dog, and a stag, to imply hunting ; on the other, a tun , or cask. Rebuses ending with this syllable and device are perhaps the commonest. Similar representations may be seen in St. Michael’s Church at Ashton, said to have been founded by Warden Huntington. He died on the nth November, 1458, having held office for thirty-seven years. He was buried in the choir, which he himself had built, immediately under the high altar, as it then stood. In his will, dated 13th November 1454, he relates that he had lately granted by deed to James Bridde, Hugh Aston, and Nicholas Ravalde, Priests, all his messuages, lands, and rents in Manchester, Salford, and elsewhere in the county of Lancaster, and also in Chesterfield in the county of Derby, to the intent that after his death they should sell the same (except his lands at Chesterfield), and the said feoffees “shall dispose of all such money to the edificacon, expenses, costes, and byggyng of the nave worke by me begonen of the Chauncell of the Kirke of our Lady of Machesf, if so be yat my movable godes aft r my decesse suffice noght nor bene sufficiaunte to fforme the said edificacon, costs and JOHN HUNTINGTON. 25 byggynge.’' It was then provided that if there were any overplus it was to be appropriated to the support of priests to say masses, prayer, and other Divine services for the soul of the said Huntington and his friends for ever. He further provided that if his kinswoman, Elizabeth Baret was dead, or should die without issue, the lands at Chester- field devised to her should be applied to the same purposes as his land in Lancashire. This will appears not to have been acted upon, and after a considerable time, an arbitration took place, by which, among other things, the following provision was made : — “And it is also awarded that yearly an obit or anniversary shall be kept with a Dirge after noon, and a Mass of Requiem on the morrow after, with Note for the souls of the said Sir John Huntington, his benefactors, the souls of the persons above mentioned, and all Christian souls, at the charge of the said Priest for the time being, on the nth day of November, on which day the said Sir John Huntington died.” The Bishop of Ely ; (whose brass is portrayed in this volume) attests the award, which is signed by the arbitrators and others. (Notes to Notitia Cestriensis. Chetham Society s Publications , Vol. PP- 59> et se( l\ 26 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. “ It has not been noticed that Huntington on his appointment to the Wardenship retained the Rectory of Ashton-under-Lyne for two years before he resigned it in favour of his successor. On the 22 Nov. 1424, James Skelyngton, clerk, was presented to the Rectory by Thomas, Lord de la Warre, on the resignation of John Huntington. He held the living only a few months, as the same patron again presented Warden Huntington, who was instituted 12th June 1425, on the resignation of Skelyngton, who had evidently been the wrong person for carrying on church works. Nor has it been noticed that Warden Huntington held Ashton Rectory until his death.” ( Chet ham Society s Publications, N.S., 1885 , Vol. 5, p. / 6 ). An engraving of this brass, though a somewhat inaccurate one, may be found in the “History of Manchester Foundations” before alluded to. Sir IRobert fcel Botbe, IRniobt, anb 2>ulcta, bis Wit e. Sir IRobert bel Botbe, Ikniobt, anb Dulcia, bis Wife. A.D. 1460. Wilmslow, Cheshire. I N the picturesque old church of Wilmslow, near Manchester, but situate in Cheshire, upon the floor of the chancel, lies the magnificent and ancient brass of Sir Robert del Bothe and Dulcia, or Douce, his lady. Although the main part of the brass is in fairly good preservation, a considerable portion of its decorations has been lost, and the brass itself is worn and indented, though its lines are perfectly clear and well-defined. The figures of Sir Robert and his wife were originally surmounted by two handsome canopies of floriated design, in the best style of Decorated architecture ; of these only the canopy above the Lady Dulcia remains. Four shields of arms formerly appeared on the brass, two at the head of the slab, and two at the foot, but a couple of these have disappeared; the 30 MONUMENTAL BE ASSES. whole was surrounded by a band or strip of brass with an inscription, of which a portion only is now left. In the year 1572, Randle Holme, the celebrated Chester herald and antiquary, visited Wilmslow, and found this brass in a perfect state : he made a rough sketch of it, which is now among the Harl. MSS., 2151, and which clearly shows what the original brass in its entirety was like. The figures represented in the accompanying plate are thus described in the “ Oxford Manual of Brasses ” : — - “The knight has a mentoniere instead of a collar of mail ; his elbow pieces and pauldrons are of equal size ; the latter have each a large ridge, and under that on the right shoulder is a gusset of mail ; his hands are bare, one of them grasps the hand of his lady, and the other is placed on his breast ; his feet, which have rowell spurs, rest on a greyhound. The lady has long flowing hair confined by a fillet, and wears a tight-fitting kirtle and a mantle ; at her feet is a dog. Both figures stand on an embattled base.” “ Over the head of the knight was his shield of arms, that of Booth, Argent , 3 boars’ heads erect and erased sable, in chief a garb or; over his wife’s head, that of SIR ROBERT DEL BO THE AND WIFE. 31 Fitton, Argent on a bend azure, 3 garbs or ; at bis feet that of Mascy, Quarterly gtiles and or, n the first quarter a lion passant argent ; and at her feet that of Thornton, Argent on.2^ bend gzUes, 3 escarbuncles or. Of these shields the second and third now only remain.” ( Earwaker's “ East Cheshire." ) The figure of Sir Robert is almost an exact counterpart of that of John Dengayn, who died about 1460, as represented on his brass at Quy, in Cambridgeshire ; almost the only points of difference being that in the latter effigy the hands are clasped, and the feet rest on a mound of earth instead of upon a couchant greyhound. ( Oxford Manual, p. 88 .) The fragment of the brass of Sir John Byron, in Manchester Cathedral, is also, so far as it goes, exactly similar to Sir Robert del Bothe’s effigy, while that of his lady, represented in this book, closely resembles the figure of Dulcia. The inscription round the edges of the tomb, as restored from Holme’s MS., is as follows : — “ Hie jacent corpus Robti del Bouthe milit’ quonda dni de Bolyn, Thorneton et Dunham qui obiit in festo See Edithe virginis ano dni milimo cccc 0 Sexagesimo et Corpus Dulcie uxTs dci Robti 3 2 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. del Bouthe que obiit in crastino See Tecle virginis Anno Domini Milimo cccc° Ouinquagesimo tercio quorum animabus propicietur Deus, Amen.” 1 (“ Here lie the body of Sir Robert del Bouthe, Knight, formerly lord of Bolyn, Thorneton, and Dunham, who died on the feast of Saint Edith the Virgin (Septr. 16) in the year of our Lord 1460, and the body of Dulcia, the wife of the said Sir Robert del Bouthe, who died on the morrow of the feast of Saint Tecla the Virgin (Septr. 23) in the year of our Lord 1453 ; on whose souls may God have mercy. Amen.”) The latter part of this inscription, beginning at the word crastino , is all that now remains. Mr. Earwaker, in his “ East Cheshire,” following the lead of Mr. Brooke, f.s.a., points out a curious error into which Dr. Ormerod has fallen, through | a misreading of this inscription, owing to his not having consulted the Holme MSS. According to Ormerod’s version, the knight (and not his lady) is represented as dying on St. Tecla’s day, and from the coincidence that the battle of Blore Heath was fought on St. Tecla’s day, he seems to have drawn the very daring inference that Sir Robert was one “ of the warriors who fell at Blore Heath.” But even, 1460. SIR ROBERT DEI. BOTHE AND LADY. Wilmslow Church , Cheshire. D SIR ROBERT DEL BOTHE AND WIFE. 35 pile accepting, for the sake of argument, this :ading of the legend on the tomb, Mr. Earwaker pnvicts the earlier historian of Cheshire of ^accuracy ; for, says he, Blore Heath was fought li 1459, whereas Sir Robert died in 1460. ;i Be this as it may, however, the authority of Irrmerod on things Cestrian was not one to be I ghtly set aside, and hence this Blore Heath fable I is been many times repeated without question, Iitil, as Mr. Earwaker remarks, it “ almost lireatens to become a popular local error.” It is hard, however, to be deprived, at the Ictate of unyielding truth, of this Blore Heath igend, the one fragment, as it promised to be, of lographical interest left from the wrecks of time, lor there is really nothing known of Sir Robert I supplement the information afforded by his iscription, except some barren particulars to be l eaned from the Record Office. H By birth and descent Sir Robert was a Lanca- Ijire man, being a younger son of John Booth of Barton, near Manchester. It was to his wife, I d the handsome dowry that she brought him, mat he owed his prominent position on the other lie of the Mersey. It was a relation of his, of a ier generation, and belonging to the branch of 36 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. the family which remained in Lancashire, who won renown on Flodden Field, and of whom the bard sang : — “Sir John Booth of Barton Was borne from his life, A more bolder burne Whis never born of woman.” In 1409 Sir Robert married Douce or Dulcia Venables, who was then only nine years of age. This Douce was younger daughter of Sir William Venables of Bolyn, knight ; the Venables family j having for a long time carried on the line, and jj held the estates of the old house of Fitton. Sir William Venables died in 1402, leaving three j children, Richard, Alice, and Douce. Alice i] married Edmund de Trafford, and Douce married | Robert del Bothe, both of whom were afterwards ! knighted. Richard Venables having been drowned by | accident in September, 1402, the husbands of Alice and Douce, in right of their wives, succeeded in equal shares to the manor of Bolyn. This division did not take place until 1421, when Douce, the younger daughter, attained her majority. Bolyn was thereupon divided into two separate manors. One half of the old manor, 1 including the advowson of Wilmslow Church, SIR ROBERT DEL BO THE AND WIFE. 37 passed to Sir Edmund Trafford, of Trafford near Manchester, and still remains in the family. The other half, comprising “ Styal in Pownall Fee township, and Dean Row in Bollin Fee town- ship, the Bollin mills, and £5 yearly rent from the heirs of Alice Venables, together with the manor of Falibrome (in Prestbury parish), lands in Norley, Kingsley, etc., and the moiety of the manor of Thornton, with the advowson of Thornton church in West Cheshire,” passed to Sir Robert del Bothe, and, until recently, remained in the family of his descendants, the Earls of Stamford and Warrington. In 1443 Sir Robert and his son William were made Sheriffs of Cheshire “for both their lives, conjimctim vel divisim , and to the survivor of them,” a tenure of the shrievalty which is certainly remarkable. This grant, however, was revoked in the next reign, 2 Edward IV., 1462. The exact date of Sir Robert’s death is uncertain. “ It is worth noting,” says Mr. Earwaker, “ that Sir Peter Leycester, who had access to the Booth papers, states that Sir Robert del Bothe seems to have died 29th Henry VI., which would be in 1 450-1 ; if for 29th we read 39th, the date will agree with the inscription said to have been 3§ MONUMENTAL BRASSES. on his tomb.” He was succeeded by his son, Sir William Booth, knight. A drawing of the complete brass (restored) is given in Mr. Earwaker’s “East Cheshire;” and another (showing the figures only) in Mr. Boutell’s “ Monumental Brasses of England.” (See also Oxford Manual , and Haines Manual of Brasses.) Xafc\> HDaroaret Byron. \ Xafcp flDargaret B\>ron. A. U. C. 1460. Manchester Cathedral. HIS brass is in good condition, except for X the loss of the head, which in the accompanying plate has been restored from contemporary examples. The figure originally formed part of the monumental brass of Sir John Byron, but nothing of his effigy remains except a fragment showing the waist, the tuilettes, the dagger, and sword-hilt, which are exact counterparts of those of Sir Robert del Bothe at Wilmslow. It will be noticed, too, that Lady Margaret, or Marjory, except for the addition of a hood or wimple, is attired, like Lady Dulcia Bothe, in a plain dress, fitting tightly at the waist, over which she wears a cloak fastened about her shoulders by a cord. As in that lady’s brass, her little lap-dog, with bells upon his collar, is represented sitting at her feet. The brass is a very good one, well drawn and deeply cut, like the Wilmslow brass, and, indeed, like all con- 42 MONUMENTAL BLASSES. temporary examples, which resemble one another very closely. The lady’s maiden name was Booth ; her husband, Sir John Byron, was Steward of the College at Manchester, and died about 1460. ( See an article by Mr E. F. Letts in the Palatine Note- Book for June , 1884.) c. 1460. MARGARET BYRON. Manchester Cathedral . H Xaw^er. H Xawper, A.D. C. 1460. St. Peter s Church, Chester. HIS brass at the present time is affixed to a pillar near the door of St. Peter’s Church, Tester, but it is evident from its greatly worn I ondition that it was originally upon the pavement f the church. Inscription and other accessories ave long since disappeared ; nothing has been ?ft but the figure, and that in a somewhat ilapidated plight. This effigy is said to -1 ^present a lawyer of old time, though upon Tat authority the writer is unaware. There I sems, however, every probability that this view ; correct. The person commemorated is represented as ^earing a long plain robe reaching to the ankles, ’ith a fringe of fur upon the skirts, and having ill loose sleeves. His hands are joined in the ttitude of prayer. He is closely shaved, and as no hair visible, the crown of his head being overed by a very large cap, with a turned-up 4 8 MONUMENTAL EE ASSES. edging of fur, or some other substance, about the temples. In Grose’s “Antiquities of England and Wales” ( Supplement , Vol. //., at p. jy of the Addenda ) is a plate representing a monumental brass in Rodmarton Church, Gloucestershire, commemorating one John Edward, who is described as “ apprenticius in lege peritus ” (“an apprentice, or barrister, learned in the law.”) The date is 7th January, 1461. The effigy of this John Edward is given in a dress almost exactly similar to the Chester brass. He also wears a similarly shaped round cap, but not quite so full and large in the crown. With the exception of this head-gear, which is probably indicative of his profession, the dress of the St. Peter’s lawyer, and the style of the brass generally, are almost precisely similar to many brasses of civilians of the fifteenth century. The date is probably in the latter half of that century, say 1460. The following account is extracted from the “ Chester Archaeological Society’s Transactions,” Vol. III., pp. 387, 388: — “In the south aisle is an elegant monumental brass. The tablet which could give any informa- tion regarding it has been removed. It has been c. 1460. A LAWYER. Peter s Church , Chester. A LAWYER. 5i ny earnest wish to substantiate a theory that this ■ffigy represented Mr. Thomas Townshend, a Sheriff of the city two hundred years ago, who lied during his year of office, and was buried n the vault over which the brass is now placed. regret, however, for many reasons, that I m compelled to abandon this theory ; as several gentlemen, who are authorities on brasses and .11 antiquarian research, and amongst them Augustus W. Franks, Esq., Director of the iociety of Antiquaries, and Keeper of the Mediaeval Collection of the British Museum, have ironounced the brass to represent a lawyer of the ime of Henry V., of a very rare type.” Hit lEcclesiastic, Bn lEcclesiastic. A.D. C. 1480. Eccleston, Lancashire. HIS brass lies upon an altar-tomb on the south side of the chancel of the old church t Eccleston, near Chorley, in Lancashire. The tone to which it is affixed bears the hollowed latrices of what were formerly the accessories of le effigy, namely two scrolls (probably bearing ious ejaculations, like those on the Macclesfield i rass), one at each side of, and slightly above the riest’s head ; two small figures above these 2[ain, and along the edge of the stone a band r riband bearing the name and date of death of te defunct clergyman. All that remains of the tter is a small piece of brass with the termination f some word ending with the letter S, and the ord “Anno,” in old black-letter type. The loss of the inscription deprives us of a ue to the person commemorated. Most probably the brass represents one of the ctors of the church. Baines, indeed, refers to 56 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. this monument as “the effigy of a bishop, in brass, fully enrobed.” But the inscription had been lost before he wrote, so that he seems to have had no reason, other than his own inferences drawn from the effigy itself, for describing it as representing a bishop. It is in truth no more than the figure of an ordinary parish priest — the “ Persoun ” of the Canterbury tales: “an appellation,” says Sir William Blackstone, “which (however it may be depreciated by familiar, clownish, and indiscriminate use), is the most legal, most beneficial, and most honourable title that a parish priest can enjoy, because such a one (Sir Edward Coke observes), and he only, is said vicem sen personam ecclesiae gerere." This error on the part of the historian of Lancashire (to whom so large a debt of gratitude is justly due from his fellow-shiresmen) is on all fours with his description of the Scarisbrick brass at Ormskirk as that of a “ crusader.” These mistakes show a combined ignorance of chronology and costume, as illustrated by monu- mental antiquities, which detracts greatly from the value of his work, whenever he quits the paths of compilation for those of original research. AN ECCLESIASTIC. 59 The priest is represented with the usual tonsured crown (the tonsure was a stern reality in those days !), and has his hands joined in prayer. He wears the processional vestments, alb, surplice, and cope, the latter edged with an orna- mental pattern or orphrey , and clasped by a large brooch or morse. The figure is simply and pleasingly drawn. In the absence of any other index to the date Df this brass, we have to compare it with other examples. From such comparison, we are nclined to assign it to the latter portion of the ifteenth century — say 1480 — but this, it must be •emembered, is purely speculative. flMera (Berarfc, Esquire. piers (Serarfc, Esquire. A.D. 1485, Winwick, Lancashire. T HIS is a large and very handsome brass, but has unhappily been a good deal defaced by the treading- of feet. It lies upon the floor of the Gerard chapel or chantry on the north side of the fine old church of St. Oswald at Winwick, a few miles distant from Warrington, the living of which is one of the richest in England. The wear and tear above alluded to have rendered some of the lines of the brass very faint, and have all but obliterated the features, which have been restored in the accompanying plate rom contemporary examples. The guard of the sword-hilt has also gone, but the clearly-cut matrix in the stone slab shews its exact outline. Piers or Peter Gerard is attired in a tabard emblazoned with his arms, and in this respect, as ^ell as in the style of his armour generally, he dosely resembles the brass of Henry Norris at v-hildwall, and the Scarisbrick brass at Ormskirk, 6 4 MONUMENTAL EE ASSES. especially the latter. His hair is long and flowing ; his hands, cased in gauntlets, which leave the fingers free, are joined in prayer. On his feet he wears the round-toed clumsy sabbatons which had at this time superseded the graceful pointed sollerets of an earlier age. ( See the brass of Sir Robert del Bothe.) His feet rest upon a very stiff and conventional- looking lion, who lies couchant upon a bank, where plants and flowers are growing. Above the esquire’s armour is asurcoat or tabard, bearing upon the front, and also upon the flaps of the cape which cover either shoulder, the Gerard arms, a lion rampant crowned. As is common in the brasses of this period, the sword is worn in a sloping position at the back of the figure : a dagger hangs from the right side. Above the effigy is the greater part of a fine triple canopy of much beauty. Beneath the figure is this inscription, “ Here lieth Piers Gerard Esquire son and heire of Thomas Gerard Knyghte of the Bryne who married Margaret ; daughter of William Stanley of Hoton Knyghte which died the XIX day of June in the yere of ! our Lord MCCCCLXXXV on whose soule God have mercy. Amen.” Win wick, Lancashire. ¥ PIERS GEE A RE, ESQUIRE. 67 “ Beneath the foot-legend are three shields of arms ; and below the centre one a very small figure of a boy.” ( Boutell's Monu- mental Brasses and Slabs, p. yy, n.) This gallant Esquire was a member of the house of Gerard, which still holds its place as one of the famous old Catholic families of Lancashire, who have maintained their faith through good repute and ill. The family traces its origin from Otho or Other, a rich and powerful lord in King Alfred’s days, descended from the Dukes of Tuscany, who, from Florence | or Norway, passed to Hetruria, in Nor- mandy, and thence to England, in which country, and in Wales, they flourished, ; until Richard Strongbow, Earl of Pem- broke, their kinsman, induced them to join in his expedition to Ireland. The earlier members of the family bore indifferently the name of Gerard, Gerald, or Fitzgerald. The person whose brass is here depicted, Piers Gerard of Kingsley and Bryn, Esquire, 68 MONUMENTAL BE ASSES. was son of Sir Thomas Gerard and Douce , daughter of Sir Thomas Assheton o Assheton. He married Margaret, daughte; of Sir William Stanley of Hooton, knight by Margaret his wife, daughter of Sr John Bromley of Badington, heiress to he mother. ( Foster s Lancashire Pedigrees.) His son, Sir Thomas Gerard, knight led his Brindle archers against the Scots and was one of the many Lancashir* knights who reaped laurels upon Floddei Field. He fell in battle, 6th November 15 Henry VIII. Above the door of the Gerard Chape I is a quaint oak carving of the crowne< rampant lion of the Gerards, and th initials of a certain Sir Thomas Gerard and Elizabeth, his wife. At the old moated and now ruinou Hall of Bryn (“ the Bryne,” as th epitaph has it) was formerly preserve- that strange Lancashire relic known a Father Arrowsmith’s hand, or “ the hoi hand,” PIERS GERA RE, ESQUIRE. 69 The Gerards, who were related to Arrowsmith’s family, took it • with them to their new seat of Garswood, and in 1822 it was transferred to the Catholic Church at Ashton-in-Makerfield, where it is still reverently kept. Sir IRalpb Hssbeton, anb fIDaroaret, bis Mife. *v Sir IRalpb Hssbeton, aitb flDargaret, bis Mife. A.D. C . 1485. Middleton , Lancashire. T HE church of St. Leonard, at Middleton, is by far the richest in either of the palatine counties in the matter of brasses, most of which commemorate members of the Assheton family. All these were originally situated in the body of the church, or in the side chapels ; and many of them were hidden by pews, and greatly neglected. Dr. Durnford (afterwards Bishop of Chichester) when rector of Middleton, 1835-1870, caused the brasses to be removed and placed in the chancel — a great improvement, with the single drawback that the monuments no longer indicate the resting-places of the dead. A few years ago the project was discussed of having these brasses removed to an upright position against the walls. Happily this mis- - 74 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. * guided scheme was frustrated by the public- spirited opposition of many of the residents and others ; a thoughtful and appreciative paper read 1 at Middleton, by Mr. George Esdaile, largely j contributing to stimulate and give expression to the popular opinion. Earliest in date of the brasses in this church are those supposed to commemorate Sir Ralph Assheton, and Margaret, his wife, daughter and heiress of John Barton, Esquire of Rydale, co. York, who brought the valuable estate of Middle- ; ton into this branch of the Assheton family. True, there is no inscription, “but,” says the learned editor of the Iter Lancastrense ( Chet. Soc. Pub., 184.5), “no inscription was wanted to prove this to be the tomb of Sir Ralph Assheton ! and Margaret Barton.” The monument also bears the arms of Assheton quartering Barton of Middleton. It is quite possible that this conjecture is correct, but in the absence of proof to the contrary, the brass might also be taken to represent Sir Richard Assheton, son of the above, who was knighted for his services in the Scottish wars under Lord Strange, and died in April, 23 Henry VII., having married Isabel, daughter of John Talbot, of Shrewsbury. So far as the style c. 1485. SIR RALPH ASSHETON AND MARGARET, HIS WIPE. Middleton Church , Lancashire. SIR RALPH ASSHETON AND WIFE. 77 of the armour goes, either of these might be the person represented. Moreover, if the rules of heraldry were strictly observed (which, however, they were not by the old brass designers) the fact of the Barton arms being qiiartered with those of Assheton ought to be conclusive proof that the monument is not that of the man who married the heiress of the Bartons, and so introduced the arms of that house into his family escutcheon. Mr. Esdaile, however, in the lecture to which we have referred (delivered on the 14th of September, 1889), propounded another theory. “Unless this brass,” he says, “represents Sir Ralph Assheton, and his wife, Elena or Eleanore, daughter of Adam Hulton, of Hulton, and their seven sons and six daughters, I fail to recognise them. Flower, the Herald, only gives them two daughters, perhaps only those who lived to be married. If this idea be the correct one, their son was the grantee of Whalley Abbey. The Asshetons here represented were uncle and aunt and cousins to Edmund Assheton, the priest.” Both figures are attired in costumes very common during the latter years of the fifteenth and the early years of the sixteenth century. The knight has smooth-shaved face and long 78 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. hair ; he wears plate armour, with sabbatons ; sword, but no dagger. His lady has a plain dress with fur cuff pedimental head-dress, and long girdle with pomander at the end. The hands of both aijj raised in prayer, and are without gloves. Tf figures turn inwards, partly facing each othe They are short and thick, and somewhat clums in design, but have considerable merit, neve theless. Beneath their parents are the diminutiv figures of seven sons, in long plain robes wit hanging sleeves, and six daughters in dresses lik that worn by their mother, and pediment; head-gear. Sir Ralph Assheton, the first of the Middleto branch of that ancient family, was page of honor to Henry VI. He afterwards held the hig offices of Knight Marshall of England, Lieutenan of the Tower of London, and Sheriff of Yorkshire In the twenty-fourth year of Edward IV.’s reig he was made a knight-banneret upon Hutto; Field, in Scotland. He subsequently was mad' Vice-Constable of England, with the authority c Constable. Hollinshed mentions him among th knights who rode in the procession at th< SIR RALPH ASSHETON AND WIFE. 79 coronation of Richard III. (Fosters “ Lancashire Pedigrees." ) Rendered arrogant, perhaps, by the acquisition of these honours, Sir Ralph seems to have behaved in a very high-handed and cruel manner to his neighbours and dependants. “ Retaining for life the privilege granted to him in Ashton, of ‘ Guld-riding,’ he, on a certain day in Spring, made his appearance in the manor, clad in black armour (whence his name of the ‘Black Lad,’ or ‘Black Boy,’) mounted on a charger, and attended with a numerous train of his own followers, in order to levy the penalty arising from the neglect of clearing the land from carr- gulds ” (or corn-cockles). (“ Lancashire Folk- Lore ,” by J. Flarlandand T. T. Wilkinson, p. 290.) Such odium attached to the memory of the Black Knight of Ashton that, somewhat after the manner in which the Anti-Napoleonic ballads arose, the hatred and fear of the people took shape and acquired perpetuity in the following rude quatrain : — “Sweet Jesu, for Thy mercy’s sake, And for Thy bitter passion, Save us from the axe of the Tower And from Sir Ralph of Ashton.” 8o MONUMENTAL BRASSES. The doings of this “tyrant of the fields ” are! still further perpetuated by the singular custom! known as “ Riding the Black Lad ” at Ashton on! Easter Monday. In Roby’s “Traditions of Lancashire,” Sir Ralph’s excesses are worked up into a readablej enough story. In Whitaker’s “ History of Whalley,” it is said; that this Sir Ralph and his wife “ were the, 1 parents of the (supposed) rebuilder of the church’ (at Middleton), alluding to Edmund Assheton rector of the church, whose brass is engraved in this book. In Foster’s “ Lancashire Pedigrees,” however, although among the. children of this couple is onei named Edmund, it is Thomas who is described asl priest. The pedigree, however, shows Edmund: Assheton, Rector of Middleton, to have been one| of the sons of Sir Richard Assheton, grandson of the “ Black Knight,” and who displayed much prowess at Flodden, and dedicated his armour to St. Leonard ; in token whereof, in the Assheton Chapel in Middleton Church, may yet be seen his helmet, with the boar’s head crest, the blade ot his sword, and three spurs. H flDember of tbc Scarisbricfc family. G H member of tbe Scanebricfc A.D. V. 1500. Ormskirk , Lancashire. T HIS is a handsome brass, but time has dealt harshly with it. No inscription is left; so that both name and date are unknown. That it represents a member of the old Lancashire house of Scarisbrick of that ilk, is proved by the arms of the family being blazoned upon the warrior’s tabard, and also by the brass being in the Scarisbrick chapel in Ormskirk Church. The style of the armour, etc., fixes its date somewhere about the end of the fifteenth century. The brass is large, like that of Piers Gerard, which in style and general features it closely resembles. All that remains now is the figure, and this, awkwardly enough, has been fastened, at a con- siderable height, against the wall of the Chantry of St. Nicholas, or Scarisbrick chapel. It was formerly upon the floor, under a heavy pew in this chapel. The knight (or we shall probably be 8 4 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. more correct in terming him “esquire”) has flowing hair, curiously curled at the ends ; his face is clean-shaven. About his neck is a narrow chain worn three-fold, but without any pendant. He wears plate-armour, and the clumsy sabbatons alluded to in our notice of Piers Gerard’s brass. H is feet rest upon a lion : the lion’s head and the hilt of the sword have been broken off, but in the annexed engraving have been restored from Piers Gerard’s brass, which is evidently very similar. It is noticeable that he wears no misericorde , or dagger. He wears a surcoat, upon the body and cape of which are the Scarisbrick arms, argent 3 I mullets of 6 points between two bendlets engrailed; %tiles. Like the surcoat in Henry Norris’s brass, , but unlike that of Piers Gerard, his surcoat leaves I exposed the lower portion of his shirt of mail, and the ends of the hales. His head rests upon an embroidered cushion, which probably was originally tasselled at the corners. In Ormskirk Church is a bell with the inscription, “J. S. de B. Armig. et e. ux. me fecerunt in honore Trinitatis. R. B. 1497.” (“J- S. of B. Esquire and his wife made me in honour of the Trinity. R. B. 1497.”) This inscription has been variously interpreted by local antiquaries. A KNIGHT OF THE SCAKISBRICK FAMILY. Ormskirk Church , Lancashire. MEMBER OF THE SCARISBRICK FAMIL Y 87 In Murray’s “ Handbook for Lancashire” we read, “In die Scarisbrick chapel is an effigy supposed to represent a knight of that family, James Scarisbrick, of Bickerstaffe, the probable donor of the large bell.” This, in all probability, is true, but there appear to have been several James Scarisbricks, each of whom might be the person in question. “ Mr. Draper, author of ‘ The House of Stanley,’ conjectured that the letters upon the bell ‘ were the initials of James Scarisbrick, who, by an inquisition of 4 Hen. VII., held lands in Burscough ;’ or else of another James Scarisbrick, who married Margaret, daughter of Thomas Atherton, of Bickerstaffe, and whose daughter, Elizabeth Scarisbrick, married Peter Stanley, of Aughton. Neither of these conjectures, however, is admissible. The first-named James Scarisbrick, whose inquisition is dated 24 (not 4), Henry VII. (misquoted by Mr. Baines in 1835, and the error adopted by Mr. Draper), was a minor j at his death in 1508, while the second-named, the uncle of the first, would not be ‘of BickerstafP until after his father-in-law’s death in 1514 ; while 1 his wife, whose initials would be M., not E ” (but the E. may be for ejns, and may not stand for the 88 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. . wife’s initial), “was at her father’s death onl thirty years old, and consequently could not hav been married in 1495. By the kindnesj of Mr. Wm. Hardy, of the Duchy c Lancaster Office, I have, however, obtains copies of the various inquisitions referrei to, which show that there was another Jame Scarisbrick (hitherto overlooked in the contrc versy), father of James Scarisbrick who marrie< Margaret Atherton, and grandfather of Jame Scarisbrick who died a minor in 1508. His wife’s name was Elizabeth : he heli estates in both Burscough and Bretherton : he i found living in 1494, dying sometime betweei; that date and 1501, his wife surviving him : ant his son Gilbert’s will shows the family’s interesi both in the priory of Burscough and Ormskirl Church : — ‘ I will that mine executors content an\>s, Esquire, anb IRatberinc, HIS is a very handsome brass, and illustrates the finer characteristics of the beginning ot the sixteenth century. Ralph Dellvys, or Delves, is represented wearing plate-armour over a shirt of mail, the lower portion of which is divided. The shoulder-pieces, especially the left, have high guards. He has sabbat ons upon his feet, but wears no gauntlets. He is armed with sword and dagger, the former being slung in a diagonal position at his back, a practice common to all brasses at this period. His head rests upon a helmet, which bears the usual tasselled lambrequin, and torse surmounted by the family crest, a demi-heron with wings displayed, which shows traces of having once been inlaid with silver. The esquire is facing slightly to the left, towards his lady, who is bis wife. A.D. 1513. Wybunbury , Cheshire. io6 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. apparelled in the familiar pedimental head-dress, and wears a long plain dress, close-fitting at the waist and sleeves, and hanging in heavy folds about her feet. Her cuffs and the border of her skirts are edged with fur. About her waist is an ornamental girdle, with clasps and pendant of the common pattern. Her hands, like those of her husband, are raised in prayer. On her left side is the matrix of a group of three very diminutive children, but the brass itself has been removed. Beneath the figures of Ralph and his lady is the following inscription, in old-English letters : — “ Here lyth Rafe Dellvys Esquyer of dodenton and Kateryn hys Wyfe, the whyche Rafe died the seconde day of marche in the yere of ower lord God A. MCCCCC and xiii. On whose sowllys Allmyghty Jhu haue mercy.’’ At the four corners, — two above the heads of the figures, and two below their feet,— were four shields, the two lower of which alone remain : that on the dexter side bearing the arms of Delves, argent a chevron gules cheqicey, or, between 3 delves or turves, sable, which constitute a “canting" achievement, i.e., have a pictorial allusion to the name of the bearer. On the RALPH DELL VYS, ESQUIRE, AND KATHERINE, HIS WIFE. Wybunbury , Cheshire. RALPH DELL VYS AND WIFE. 109 minister side is a shield bearing Delves impaling Touchet. The brasses were recently embedded in a slab )f blue fossil marble, and run in with pitch. This due slab was built into the wall in the north aisle )f the church, which has lately been taken down. Dwing to the shifting nature of the soil, and want af care in laying the foundations, the church at Wybunbury has had many rebuildings. The Delves brasses were originally on the floor of the dd church which was standing at the date of their erection. In 1595 Bishop Gastrell built another :hurch on the same site, and the brasses occupied 1 position on the floor of the Lady Chapel in this diurch. The church was subsequently a third time rebuilt, and yet again in 1832 ; and is now about to be rebuilt for the fifth time. It is :ntended to remove the brasses from their false position on the wall, to the floor of the chancel of :he new building, together, if possible, with their original setting of blue marble. The Delves or Delvys family, long settled at Doddington in Cheshire, came originally from Delves Hall, near Uttoxeter in Staffordshire. Dugdale in his pedigree traces them from John Delves of that place. John Delves of Doddington I IO MONUMENTAL BE ASSES. was one of the four Cheshire squires of Lord Audley, who, under the Black Prince (who was Earl of Chester), did great feats of derring-doe at Poictiers in 1364. The other three esquires were Dutton of Dutton, Fulherst of Crewe, and Hawkeston of Wrinehill. Ralph (also known as Randle), the subject of the accompanying engraving, was a younger son of Sir John Delves, who was slain at the Battle of Tewkesbury, 4th May, 1471, and whose eldest * son and heir, John, also took part in the battle, both father and son fighting on the Lancastrian i side. “ The younger Delves was one of those j who fled after the battle to Tewkesbury Abbey, where they were pursued by King Edward, who ! entered the church, sword in hand, but being opposed by a priest, who lifted up the Host between the King and the fugitives, granted a ; promise of pardon, which he afterwards falsified, and two days after, on Monday, May 6th, caused them to be brought out and beheaded.” ( Ormerod's Cheshire). Both were buried at Tewkesbury, as appears by the Abbey registers, but the son’s body was afterwards removed to Wybunbury. It is presumed that Ralph Delves’ children, RALPH DELL VYS AND WIFE. iii vvho were once represented on the monu- nent, died before him, for he was succeeded n the inheritance of Doddington by his younger Drother, Henry. He also had another younger brother, Richard, a canon of Lichfield, and rector )f Warrington. The “ Captain Delves ” who sat at Chester as )ne of the court-martial commissioned by Oliver dromwell to try the Earl of Derby, was probably t member of this old Cheshire house. It is greatly to his honour that he and Colonel’ Twisleton recorded their votes in favour of illowing the noble prisoner’s plea of quarter for ife granted to him by a Parliamentarian captain, —a plea overruled by all the other members of he tribunal, without the semblance of a justification. At the end of the seventeenth century, Elizabeth (or Rhoda), only surviving child and leiress of Sir Thomas Delves of Doddington, 3 art., married Sir Brian Broughton of Broughton Hall, co. Stafford. The family who thus acquired he estates, and who still reside at Doddington, issumed the name of Delves-Broughton. Doddington Hall was built in 1777. Sir John delves, in 1402, obtained licence to build a renelated tower at Doddington, which still I I 2 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. remains in fairly good preservation. The statues of the Black Prince, Lord Audley, and his four Cheshire squires, of very ancient date, are still to be seen at the entrance to the old tower, and are fairly well preserved. They are about one-and-a half times life size, and hewn out of the same red sandstone of which the tower is built. Elizabeth's reign a new house was erected, the site of which is pointed out, close to the old tower. This house was twice occupied by the parliament's forces during the Civil War; it was taken down when the present hall was built. The church at Wybunbury contains monuments ot numerous other members of the family. fames Stanley, Bisbop of Bly anb Marben of fIDancbester. 3amcs Stanley Bisbop of j£ 1\> aitb Marben of fIDancbeeter. A.D. 1515. Manchester Cathedral. r HE brass of this prelate is one of great interest, and not a little beauty. In it the i hness of the Roman vestures is strikingly clis- j iyed. The brass lies in the Ely Chantry of the Cthedral (formerly the Collegiate Church) at Manchester. It has unfortunately been a good cal mutilated; the lower portion of the figure, ? awing the alb , the feet, and the ends of the sde, has been removed. The tip of the mitre ljs also been broken off (this has been restored i , the accompanying illustration). The bishop is sired in Eucharistic vestments. His mitre is >'hly jewelled, and of a high and pointed shape; 1- amice , or embroidered collar, has a diaper F tern ; the dalmatic , the short fringed robe worn ofir the alb, has a foliated pattern. Over all is t chasuble, an ample cloak, covering in great Pj t both alb and dalmatic ; this also is richly 1 1 16 MONUMENTAL EE ASSES. embroidered. A maniple , or embroidered scarf or' kerchief, hangs from his left arm. He wears tasselled gloves, over which are] rings. His right hand is raised in the attitude of benediction ; his left grasps a pastoral staff, with vexillum and a rose in the crook. At the foot of the effigy is this inscription : — “Off yo r charite pray for the soule of James] Stanley sutyme Bushupe of Ely and Warden of; this Colege of JYIamchestur which decessed out ot this transitore world the xxij daye of March the yer of our Lord God M° CCCCC & XV upon who 5 soule and all cristen soull’ Jhesu haue mercy . 1 “Vive deo gratus toto mu’do tumulatus Crimine mu'dat’ semp’ transire paratus : ffilij hom 1 usque quo graui corde ut quid diligit vanitate e querit’ mendacm : Utinam saperent et itelligerei ac nouissima prouideret." “ The icon and the inscription were originalh cantoned by four shields, of which nothing nov remains but the places where they had once bee: • inserted : these probably 7 contained the famil; alliances, and the arms of the see of Ely 7 . On th end of the tomb is a place for one solitary shield and on the front is the representation of a fis < with a label from its head between two escutcheon j JAMES STANLEY. 117 ] iced at a small distance, but these, like the •'hers, have disappeared.” (Hist. of the foundations in Manchester .) The fish, it should 1 observed, was used emblematically by the < rly Christians as symbolising Christ. In 1859 \z old stone monument was removed, which ; counts for its modern appearance. James Stanley appears to have been far from ; exemplary bishop : but there was manly stuff i him : he was a generous and open giver, and c ubtless his sins were more against himself t m others. There is something so thoroughly 1 man in him that his character seems to have 1 ;t nothing in individuality from the lapse of t ie. Some ot the clearest glimpses into his tempera- i mt and life are given in the “ Metrical History m the House of Stanley,” written by a later mmber of his house. 'James Stanley was the sixth son of Thomas, 1 »rd Stanley, who, in recognition of his services a Bosworth Field, was, by Henry VII., created 1 irl of Derby. He studied at the Universities of Oxford and ( mbridge, and graduated at the latter about '58, and in the same year entered into holy 1 18 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. orders, and was made Prebendary of Holy we in the Church of St. Paul, London. To ! member of such a powerful family as til Stanleys, there was no fear of want of promotio but it would seem that the sacred profession w; not his true vocation. The responsibility for th lay with his family, and the matter has bea sagely commented upon in the “ Metrical History which gives the reader in a few words an insig into his character. “ His third sonne was James, a goodlye man, a priest, Yet little priest's mettle was in him, by Christ. A goodlie tall man as was in all England, And spedd well all matters that he took in hand. Because he was a priest I dare do no lesse, But leete, as I know not, of his hardiness. What proud priest hath a blow on the ear sodenlye Turneth the other ear likewise for humilitye? He would not so doe, by the crosse in my purse, Yet I trust his soule fareth never the worse. As manye, more pyttie ! sacred orders doe take For promotion rather than for Christ’s sake, And ofte longe of freinds (the verie truth to tell) Yt vs great grace yf such one doe prove well ; Great abuse in priesthoode and matrymonye, Where fancye of freinds shall choose for the partye." This highly-born and wealthy priest was JAMES STANLEY. 119 landsome man to boot, some six-and-a-half feet n stature, as an exhumation of his remains proved. No ascetic was he ; it might be said of lim, as of Chaucer’s monk, “ Now certeinly he was a fair prelat ; He was not pale as a for-pyned goost.” On the contrary, the writer of the Rhyming Chronicle describes him as : — “A great vyander as any in his dayes,” tdding “ For bysshoppes that then was, this was no dispraise.” The list of his preferments is long. “ In 1470, ie was appointed prebendary of Driffield, in the Church of York. In 1479 he was collated to the irebend of Dunham in the Church of Southwell ; tnd so quickly did preferments come upon him, hat on 22nd July, 1485, he succeeded his uncle n the valuable wardenship of the Collegiate church at Manchester. A pluralist already, still urther promotion awaited him. In 1491 he was nstalled in the prebend of Yatminster Prima, of he Church of Salisbury, and the next year in the irebend of Beaminster in the same Church. In 1493, he was made Dean of the Royal Chapel of 3t. Martin’s-le-Grand, in London ; in 1478, rector )f Rostherne, Cheshire; in 1500, xYrchdeacon of I 20 MONUMENTAL BE ASSES. Richmond; and in 1505, precentor of Salisbury.”! {Beamon? s “ History of Winwick .”) Mr. Beamont discredits Jortin’s story that when Erasmus was in Paris with Lord Mountjoy and some other young nobles, in 1490, he was offered promises and a pension if he would take under his * tuition James Stanley, and fit him to be made a bishop. The latter was at the time no longer young. He was destined, to take yet a step higher up the ladder of ecclesiastical preferment. H is promotion to the bishopric of Ely he is said j to have owed to the Countess of Richmond. “ King Harrye the Vllth, a prynce, noble and sage, Made him bishop (for wisdome and parentage) Of Ely. Manye a day was he bishopp there, He builded Somersome, the bysshope’s chief manner.” On the 17th July, 1506, Pope Julius II. signed; his bull of provision constituting him Bishop of j Ely, and, in the following year, the University of I Oxford granted and decreed that he might be created a doctor of decrees by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London placing a cap upon his head. From the year 1493 until about this time, he had held the immensely wealthy living of Winwick, near Warrington. The advowson 1 1 i JAMES STANLE V 121 belonged, and still belongs, to the Stanley family, md many members of that house have enjoyed its emoluments. After he had been promoted to the episcopate, ‘the temporalities were restored, Nov. 5 ollowing, by the King, who also by a grant, dated 13th of the same month, gave him the whole profits of the see during the vacancy, to the imount of nearly ,£2,500. On this occasion he esigned the Wardenship of Manchester.” ( Hist . >f Manch. Foundations . ) James Stanley was one of the witnesses present m the 3rd May 1495, when his father, the Earl, .s Constable of England, gave judgment in a suit »f arms between Sir Thomas Assheton and Sir J iers Legh, which matter is more fully referred to n the account of the latter knight in this volume, n the next year he was sued under the statute of Averies. “ The Bishop of Ely spent most of his summers t Somersham, near St. Ives, in Huntingdonshire ; he winter with his brother in Lancashire, requently visiting Manchester, his place of abode .here being at Alport, near which a street still etains the name of the Bishop’s Gate.” In the memorials of Bernard of Thoulouse, 122 MONUMENTAL BE ASSES. mention is made of the Bishop’s coming to London in January, 1508, and later in the same year, of his arrival at Court after prolonged absence from bodily infirmities. The least creditable incident in the prelate’s life is that to which Fuller thus alludes, “ I blame not the Bishop,” he says, “for passing his summer with the Earl of Derby, but for living all the winter with one who was not his sister, and who wanted nothing to make her his wife save marriage.” This affair lost him the Royal favour, and was the cause of his excommunication by the Pope. This accounts for his body having been buried outside the pale of the Cathedral Church in Manchester, for the ban had not been removed when he died. ( Historical Account oj Manchester Cathedral , by T. L. Worthington . ) The issue of this scandalous liaison were the brave knight Sir John Stanley, of Hondford, Thomas Stanley, and a daughter, Margaret, who married Sir Henry Halsall of Halsall. When all Lancashire was summoned to arms against the Scots, a message was sent by the Earl of Surrey “ To the bishop of Eley That bode in those partes.” ISIS- JAMES STANLEY, BISHOP OF ELY. Manchester Cathedral. JAMES STANLEY. I2 5 There is little doubt that it went sorely against he grain with our valiant bishop (“ armis quam ibris peritior ,” as Prior Robert Stewart charac- erises him, in his Anglia Sacra), to be unable to espond in person to this appeal. But he was old nd stiff, and must needs send Sir John Stanley, iis son, as an able substitute, with a goodly ontingent of fighting men. Holinshed mentions the English left wing as onsisting, among others, of “Sir John Stanleie /ith the Bishop of Elie’s seruants.” The quaint old ballad upon Flodden, entitled The Scottish Field,” which in its metre and lliterative verse reminds one of the “ Vision of hers Plowman,” thus describes the part the 'ishop played in the matter. The Earl of Surrey hen at Pomfret, “ • . . made letters boldlie all the land over ; In Lancashire helive, he caused a man to ride, To the bishop of Eley that bode in those partes. Curteslie commaunded him in the Kinge’s name, To somon the shire, and set them in order : He was put in more power, MONUMENTAL BRASSES. 1 26 “ than any prelate elles. Then the bishopp full boldlie bowneth furth his standart With a captain full kene as he was knowen after. Sir John Stanley, that stoute knight that stern was of deedes With four thousand fursemen that followed him after ; They were tenantes that they tooke, that tenden on the bishopp, Of his houshold I you hete, hope ye no other. Every burne had on his breast broudered with goulde, A fote of the faireste foule that ever flowe on winge ! With their crowns full cleare All of pure goulde ! Yt was a semely sight to see them togeder, Fourtene thousand egill feete feteled in araye.” Two years later the bishop paid the debt of Nature, expiring on the 22nd of March, 1515. “ He did end his life in merry Manchester, And right honorablye lieth he buried there, In his chapel, which he began, of freestone. Sir John Stanlye built it oute when he was gone. God send his soule to the heavenly companye, Farewell, godlye James, Byshopp of Elye.” — ( Metrical Hist.) JAMES STANLE V T2 7 His character has been variously presented. 'Godwin has nothing good to say of him, but Willis, with more charity, observes, “ He was extremely generous and hospitable ; a benefactor to Jesus College, by giving to it the impropriation of the rectory of Great Shelford, near Cambridge, partly for founding a fellowship therein, the patronage of which he reserved to his successors in the see of Ely ; he also compiled the statutes of that College, and got them confirmed by Pope Julius II. He likewise built a noble chapel at Manchester, and much improved the episcopal palace at Somersham. Add to this his provident care in improving the patronage of his see by another fellowship in the same university, which still remains in the nomination of his successors.” A further quotation from “ The Scottish Field ” can scarcely be resented, expressing as it does in some measure the popular estimate of his character at a period not long after his death : — “ . . . A Bishop full bolde That borne was at Lathum, Of Eley that ylke lorde that epe was of deedes ! An egg of that bolde erle that named was Standley, Nere of nature to the Duke 128 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. “ that noble have been ever ; But now death with his dart hath driven him away ! It is a losse to the lande our Lorde have his soule ! For his witte and his wisdome and his wale deedes, He was a pillar of peace the people amonge ; His servants they mair syke and sorrow for his sake, What for pitie and for paine my pen doth me fayle. I will medle with this matter no more at this tyme, But He that is makles of mercie have mynde on his soule ! ” Less incompatible with the bishop’s tempera ment, as we know it, than with his calling, wa; his taste for cock-fighting. But after all, the “ cake of custom” largely accounts for hi; connection with the sport, for it seems that several priests were among the spectators of t great cock-fight at Winwick on 27th April, 1514 the day and place of which were assigned by the Reverend Father in God ; and no adverse comment appears to have been made on the circumstance by other members of “the fancy,’ or by the public at large. There was certainly something princely in JAMES STANLE V. 129 Bishop Stanley’s benefactions to Mother Church, which chiefly took the shape of buildings. He erected the woodwork on the south side of the choir in Manchester Collegiate Church, where his arms are placed. In conjunction with his natural son, Sir John, he undertook to build the large chapel on the north side of the church in honour of Jesus Christ and St. John the Baptist, which was completed about 1513. “ Over the door of the chancel of St. John the Baptist were placed the arms of Stanley (base line) impaling Hondford, with this inscription, — “Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas. Obsecramus ut adjuvatis nos lacobum Elyensem Episcopum, Ioannem Stanley militem et Margaretam uxorem ejus ac parentes corum in orationibus vestris apud dominum Jesum Christum, qui hanc capellam in ejus nomine et in honorem Joannis Baptistae fabricaverunt, anno incarnationis 1513.” On many parts of the | glass in the chapel was inserted “ Memorate novissima.” In 1514 the bishop was employed in building a smaller chapel on the north side of the larger 3 ne of St. John the Baptist ; and he was advised oy Master Alday, the Warden, to order in his will that a tomb should be erected for himself within it. K T 3° MONUMENTAL BRASSES. “ Agreeably to the directions of his father, Sir John Stanley undertook the completion of the smaller chantry, within which, on May 23, 1515. the bishop’s will was proved.” (Hist, of Manch. Foundations .) His will was in the following terms : — “James Stanley, by the sufferance of our Lore God Bishop of Ely, 20th March, 1514 : my bod) to be buried in a new’ chapel in my cathedra church of Ely, or else in my new chapel nov building at Manchester. I will that the chape 1 be made for me to be buried and rest my bone in at the east end of my cathedral church, fo the which I will 100 marks to be bestowed upoi walls, ironwork, glass, and covering, besides m; tomb ; on which tomb I will 40 marks b bestowed by the advice of Master Alday, Si Ranulph Pole, and Sir John Claydon, my receivei I give and bequeath to remain in the said chape a chalice gilt, etc. I will that another chapel b builded and made at Manchester on the nort side of the church, betwixt St. James’s chapel an the east end of the same church, with a tom therein for me, by advice of Master Alday, mastt warden of Manchester, with £ 20 a year fc furnishing two priests to sing in my said chape JAMES STANLE Y To Dr. Standish 40s. I will that Sir John Stanley, Knight, and Thomas Stanley, his jrother, William Serjaunt, and Alexander Tyldes- ey be my executors.” The bishop’s coat of arms, as figured on an >rnament in the old episcopal palace at Somersham, or Downham, bore : — Quarterly, 1st, juarterly 1st and 4th, argent on a bend azure , 3 )ucks’ heads cabossed or , for Stanley ; 2nd and ;rd or , on a chief indented azure , 3 plates, or Lathom ; 2nd and 3rd gules , 3 human legs onjoined at the thighs, armed, in triangle argent , purs or, for Isle of Man ; 4th as the first. Within the sepulchral chapel, near the foot of he bishop’s tomb, “ on each side of the east findow, is a demi-angel, which forms the corbel of niche on both sides of it : these angels support scutcheons : the one on the south side bears the rms of the See of Ely, viz. 1—3 ducal crowns, nd the other on the north is charged in the exter chief with a roundel, on which is :ulptured the letter S, and in the sinister chief a eagle’s leg erased with an ibex couchant in ase, which appears to have been a favourite svice of either the bishop, or his natural son Sir ahn Stanley.” r 3 2 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. We have seen that his retainers bore the eagle’s foot on their livery at Flodden. The following account of the exhumation of the bishop’s remains, in the year 1812, is of' great interest, and confirms the chronicler’s' statement as to his heroic proportions. “The tomb of James Stanley . . . was opened on the 15th of June, 1812, in the presence of the Rev. C. D. Wray and Mr. Thomas Barritt. In order to ascertain whether the body was buried in the tomb above ground, the west corner stone of the tomb was carefully removed, when the tomb was found to be solid, filled up in the middle with stones and mortar well cemented together. Going then into the little chapel, a hole was made in the ground close to the middle of the tomb, when, about a yard below, and undei the tomb, a skeleton was found lying at lengt consisting of the two thigh-bones (twenty inche long), the four leg-bones, the large leg-bom (sixteen inches long), the two hip-bones, th arm-bones complete, the os-sacrum, the sku decayed on one side, the toe and finger-bone nearly complete. “ Above the body were found large quantities stones, as if for the foundation for the tomb. pf JAMES STANLEY. *33 “The body was laid not quit under the middle the tomb, but more on the left side, rather iore within the little chapel. The head lay Dout twelve or fourteen inches out from under le west end of the tomb ; i.e., the tomb has not impletely covered the body. The feet reached ) the bottom of the brass plate which has the scription on. The Bishop, I should judge from s bones, must have been six feet high. A ack mark was perceptible in the ground in the lape of a coffin, which was evidently the decayed ood — oak probably. Two large flat stones or lgs formed the bottom of the tomb. The lgers were found close to the shoulders and iad, which proves that his arms were laid :ross.” On the 2 1 st March, 1831, the tomb was again )ened, and the remains found in the same indition as before. “ The thigh bone was :actly twenty inches long, and if we multiply four times, which is the general criterion of e anatomist, the bishop must have measured < feet eight inches in height. The bones were en carefully restored to their old position.” list, of Manch. Foundations .) The writer of the “ Rhyming Chronicle,” so *34 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. often quoted, which ends with the year 1562, was Thomas Stanley, Bishop of Man, — himself somewhat of a bon vivant if we may credit contemporary report. “The Bishop of Man, Thomas Stanley,” writes the Bishop of Durham to his Grace of Canterbury, “ liveth here at his ease as merry as Pope Joan.” He was also, like his kinsman, at one time rector of Winwick. An engraving, somewhat inaccurate, of Bishop Stanley’s brass may be seen in the “ History of the Foundations in Manchester,” before referred to. In the. writer’s copy of Boutell’s “ Monumental Brasses of England,” is fastened a wood-engraving of this brass, designed and executed by Mr. R. B. Utting with his usual skill and accuracy. Whether this plate was made to illustrate some work or not, the writer is ignorant. IRalpb (Laterall, lEsqutre, anb iEli3abetb bis Wife, anb tbcir Cbilbren. IRalpb Caterall, iSsqmre, anb lElisabetb, bis Mife, anb tbeir CbUbren. HIS brass is fixed to an oaken board, which is fastened against a pillar in the Mitton hantry of Whalley Church. For a long time it as in private hands, and has been only miparatively recently restored to its old position the church, through the instrumentality of the en vicar, Dr. T. D. Whitaker. At the time when he wrote his celebrated History of Whalley ” the brass was still missing, id it is thus referred to in that work : — “ Within adjoining to the North Chapel was a brass ate with the figures of a man (in armour) and oman (each) kneeling before a desk. Behind e father were nine sons and behind the mother sven daughters. . . . The plate was in the issession of Robert Sherburne of Mitton, Esq., 1659, and is now lost.” In the author’s copy the book is a MS. marginal note in his a.d. 1515. Whalley , Lancashire. * IRalpb Caterall, Esquire, anb Eli3abetb, bis Mife, anb tbeir Cbilbren. A.D. 1515. IVhallcy, Lancashire. T HIS brass is fixed to an oaken board, which is fastened against a pillar in the Mitton Chantry of Whalley Church, Fora long time it was in private hands, and has been only comparatively recently restored to its old position in the church, through the instrumentality of the then vicar, Dr. T. D. Whitaker. At the time when he wrote his celebrated “ History of Whalley ” the brass was still missing, and it is thus referred to in that work : — “ Within or adjoining to the North Chapel was a brass plate with the figures of a man (in armour) and woman (each) kneeling before a desk. Behind the father were nine sons and behind the mother eleven daughters. . . . The plate was in the possession of Robert Sherburne of Mitton, Esq., ln 1 659, and is now lost.” In the author’s copy of the book is a MS. marginal note in his * 1 38 MONUMENTAL BE ASSES. handwriting, “ Note . — Since that time I found it j at Caterall Hall, and by favour of Sir John Shelley, Bart., the owner, have replaced it in its original position. T. D. W.” The story was that it had been dug up out of Garstang churchyard. The following interesting account of the recovery of the Caterall brass is | given in the “Handbook of Whalley ” by the Rev. Robert Nowell Whitaker, the vicar [John Hey wood, Manchester , 1884 ) : — “ Many years after the History of Whalley was finished, and when the author was engaged on the History of Richmondshire, he chanced to visit Cockersand Abbey, near Lancaster, and in the parlour at Caterall Hall, an old farm-house near Garstang, belonging to Lady Shelley (the descendant of the Cateralls of Mytton, and formerly Miss Winckley of Winckley), he j discovered a brass plate hung up, which upon : examination he found to be the identical missing memorial from the chapel in Whalley Church, , which had been lost for so many years. He made application to Lady Shelley to know if she had any objection to its removal to the old situation. She kindly replied 1 None in the world.’ Consequently it was restored. It is 142 MONUMENTAL EE ASSES. Opposite to her husband, before a desk, upor which is an open book, kneels Dame Elizabeth upon a cushion, attired in pedimental head-dress a plain close-fitting gown with fur cuffs, and ar ornamental girdle and chain. Her dress closeh resembles those of Clemence Norris, Margare Bulkley, and others who figure in this book Behind her, in plain robes, with pedimenta head-dresses, stand her little following of elever daughters, all of whom, as well as their mother have their hands joined in prayer. Between the figures of the husband and wife i.' the hollowed bed which formerly contained ; shield, bearing, in all probability, the Cateral arms, azure 3 mascles, or. Beneath the figures is the following inscription “ Of yo r charyte pray for the sowllys of Raff Catterall Esquyer and Elizabeth hys wyfe whychd chylder sowlys, whych Rafe descesyd the xxv day of deceber y yere of o lord god MCCCCCXA On whose sowlys Ihu have mercy, amen.” The Cateralls, of Caterall in Amunderness, am of Little Mitton, were an ancient family, tracing their descent from one Rufus shortly after th< Conquest. RALPH CATER ALL AND IVLFE. T 43 Ralph, whose brass is here portrayed, was son nd heir of Richard Caterall. His wife Elizabeth ras daughter of James Baker of Rawcliffe. In he pedigree of the family given in Whitaker’s listory of Whalley, the names of all the children re not given. Those there enumerated are, sons, ohn, James, William, Thomas, Giles, Richard, alleys, and Robert ; daughters, Isabel, Margaret, dice, Agnes, Grace, Anne, and Catherine. In the revised edition of Dr. Whitaker’s work 5 a small but accurate and good engraving of his brass by Mr. R. B. Utting. j£&munfc> Bssbcton, priest Efcmunfc Hssbeton, ipriest. A.D. 1522. Middleton , Lancashire. PON the pavement of the Chancel of Middleton Church lies the brass of Magister Edmundus Assheton,” once rector of be church. The brass consists of the effigy of a •nest, and immediately beneath it the inscription, pon a long piece of the same metal. Edmund Assheton is represented in Eucharistic estments of a very simple pattern. He wears lerely the alb, chasuble, and amice, and these ave no ornamental border nor orphrey-work , but plain and simple edge. In his hand is a chalice containing the icramental wafer, which bears the letters J.H.S. ‘Jesus hominum salvator.”) He is, of course, laven on face and crown in true priestly fashion, ad his countenance, which is more expressive lan the majority of brasses, is somewhat rinkled. The inscription is noteworthy as giving, in 148 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. addition to the date, the dominical letter of the year. It is as follows : — “ Hie jacet Magister Edmundus Assheton Rector istius ecclesie qui obiit vicesimo die mensis augusti anno domini millimo ccccc° vicesimo secundo Ira dmcalis E cujus aime ppicietur deus. Amen.” (“ Here lies Master Edmund Assheton, Rector of this Church, who died on the 20th day of the month of August, in the year of our Lord 1522, and the Dominical Letter E. Upon whose soul may God have mercy. Amen.”) Taken altogether, the brass is a good one, simple and graceful, but not lacking boldness of design. Edmund Assheton ’s supposed parentage has been referred to in the description of the brass of Sir Ralph Assheton. The following further remarks on this subject are taken from the Chetham Society’s Publications, Vol. 37 (1855), p. 28 : — “ Edmund Assheton, Clerk, Rector of Middle- ton, appears in the MS. pedigree of the family deduced by Mr. Vernon, of Shakerley, in 1676, as the third and youngest son of Sir Richard Assheton, Knight, the third head of his family seated at Middleton, and of his wife Ann, EDMUND AS SHE TON 1 5 1 daughter of Sir Robert Foulhurst, of Crewe, in o the county of Chester, Knight. A computation of dates would, however, rather lead to the conclusion that he was the uncle of that dis- tinguished individual, whose father died 28th April, 1507, and in the following year his son and heir, Richard, was found by inquisition to be of the age of twenty-six years (born about 1482), and not likely to have a son Rector of Middleton when he himself was not more than | thirty-four years of age. The Rector was there- fore more probably the son of Sir Ralph Assheton, who had married the heiress of the Bartons, one of whom he succeeded in the living of Middleton about the year 1493. On the 6th June, 3 Hen. VIII., George Atherton, of Atherton, Esq., conveyed to Richard Assheton, | of Middleton, Esq., Edmund Assheton, Clerk, of Middleton, and John Hopwood, of Hopwood, Esq., all his lands in Ashton-in-Makerfield, etc. (Lancs. JILSS., Vol. xw., p. 76.) Edmund Assheton occurs in the MS. pedigree as living 13 Hen. VIII. (1521), and it is there noted : ‘In the Parish church of Middleton, on a brasse plate ' on a tomb I find this inscription (which is quoted). I guesse this to be this Edmund.’ ” J 5 2 MONUMENTAL EE ASSES. The valuable advowson of St. Leonard’s Church being attached to the manor of Middle- ton, the living was frequently enjoyed by members of the Assheton family. In three centuries there were ten Rectors who bore the name of Assheton. ( Notes to “ Iter Lancastrense , Chet. Soc. Pub., 1845). Edmund Assheton is erroneously sup- posed by Dr. Whitaker to have been the re- builder of Middleton Church : the real builder was Cardinal Langley, Bishop of Durham, a native of the parish. An engraving of this brass is given in Boutell’s “ Monumental Brasses of England.” ibeiuu Morris, Esquire, anb Clemence, b i6 Mife. — -^- T - 1benn> Borns, Esquire, anb (Hemence, bis mite. A.D. 1524. Childwall , Lancashire. r HE figures of Henry Norris, Esquire, and Clemence, his wife, as shown in the icompanying plate, are all that now remain of leir ancient monument ; the stone slab to which ley were affixed, the commemorative inscription, nd the coats of arms which in all probability irmed part of the original design, have long ince disappeared. When the ancestral home of le Norris family at Speke (some four or five liles distant from Childwall) was sold, at the eginning of this century, the floor of the Norris ihancel was broken up, and these brasses were amoved from their previous position. They remained for a long time neglected, and ^ere subsequently fixed up in the vestry, but in 853 were removed to their present position, dthin an arched recess on the wall of the south * 5 6 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. aisle, and a brass plate was then put up, bearir the following inscription : — “ In memory of Henry Norris of Speke, Esc! Ob. July 7, 1524. Aetat. 46. and of Clemen his wife, Daughter of Sir J. Harrington. Ma July 8, 1500. Removed from the tomb of tl WBp,.' h Norris’, 1760. Placed here 1853.” Both figures are in a very fair state : preservation, though the eagle or falcon quarter'! upon the cape of Henry Norris’s tabard, and f: armorial bearings upon the lady’s cloak are almct obliterated in parts, and have been sligha restored in the annexed drawing. The esquires represented in plate armour with heavy sabbato:, or steel foot gear, and spurs; that on the rig t heel is missing. He is bare-headed, and b flowing hair worn low upon the forehe; , according to a fashion illustrated in majf contemporary brasses. He is girt with sword and dagger, and his had rests upon a helmet crowned with the Nors crest, an eagle, and partially covered with te lambrequin, or mantling. Clemence, his wife, wears the pedimental he gear so common in contemporary examp and familiar to us from the old designs of que< HENRY NORRIS AND WIFE. 157 c playing-cards. She wears a simple flowing g vn with an ornamental girdle, and, over all, a c ak, fastened at the neck with a clasp. 3oth figures have crosses suspended by chains a iut their necks, that of the lady being hidden by h hands, which are joined in the attitude of [ yer, as are those of her husband. The armorial devices emblazoned upon the a iarel of both figures have evidently been at one t e enamelled in colours, but no trace of this c amentation now remains. The arms upon I nry Norris’s tabard are inaccurately blazoned ; t frets should have been in the second and t - d quarters, and the first and fourth should h e been argent only ; the arms of Erneys ought t' have been quartered by Norris as a s arate shield. Clemence Norris bears upon h cloak the arms of her father, Sir James 1 rrington, quartered with those of her mother, l|bel Radcliffe of Ordsall. It is noticeable that fl Radcliffe arms are represented by a bend ' dead of by two bendlets, but such inaccuracies a j not uncommon in heraldic delineation, and in 1 Ordsall brass in Manchester Cathedral only c : bend is shown. Che value of the armorial bearings upon 158 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. Clemence’s cloak is shown by the fact that the) have supplied the only means (in the absence 0 the original inscription on the monument of identifying these brasses as the effigies ol Henry Norris and his wife. Had we been left td draw inferences from the style of his armour anc her costume alone, we should have been at a loss to substantiate a decided preference of Henrjji Norris, who died in 1524, to his father, Sii William, whose death took place in 1506. The Norris family no longer inhabits the picturesque old family mansion at Speke, but i was for many generations associated with it and a number of the family were interred in the Parish Church at Childwall. The earliest member of the ancient Lancashire house of Norris of whom any record is left, it Hugh le Noreis, Norensis, or Noricus, whc seems to have become possessed of estates a| Blackrod between the years 1189 and 1199. k descendant of his was that Mabelle la Noreise who married Sir William de Bradeshagh, anc whose pathetic and romantic story still clings tc and survives in the quaint old monument knowr as “ Mab’s Cross,” at Wigan. The Norrises 0: Speke are said to have come from Sutton, bui HENRY NORRIS AND WIFE. 159 they were settled at Speke (the “ Spec ” of the Doomsday Survey) for several generations before ;he alliance {temp. Richard II.) of Sir Henry le Nforres, Knight, with Alice, sole heiress of Roger Erneys, of Chester, brought the manor of Speke nto their family. Henry Norris, whose brass we are considering, was born in or about the year 1481, and in 1506 succeeded to the family estates. By his will he ‘settled his lands on his son William, in tail male, with remainder to his second son, Thomas, and ;o on in tail male, bequeathing his goods to his wife, Clemence, ‘ to help to marry Anne, his laughter,’ afterwards wife of Percival Harring- :on, of Huyton.” Clemence, as already men- :ioned, was fifth daughter and co-heiress of Sir James Harrington, of Wolfage, Northamptonshire. Her brother, William Harrington, perished with his wife while attempting to ford the Mersey, near Northenden, and was buried at Mobberley. Henry Norris fought at Flodden Field with Sir William Molyneux’s contingent. Of Sir William himself, and other Lancashire knights who won distinction on that day, we shall have accasion to speak later. Henry Norris’s son, Sir William Norris, Knight, i6o MONUMENTAL BRASSES. and his grandson, William Norris, Esq., were both engaged in the Scottish wars. The former, and probably the latter also, was present at the burning of Edinburgh, in 1544, by the Earl of Hertford. Sir William brought home to Speke several trophies of victory. Of these perhaps the most interesting are fourteen folio volumes of an ancient work on Civil Law, beautifully printed in black-letter, with initial letters in red and blue, and handsomely bound in leather with metal clasps, taken, in all probability, from the Royal Library, at Holyrood. In each of these volumes the knight has entered, in a quaint hand, a memorandum, of which the following is a specimen (as quoted in Baines’ “Lancashire”): — “ M d y l Edyn-Borow wasse wone ye viii daye off May ano xxxvj 0 H viii et Ano Dni m° ccccc° xliiii 0 and y t y is boke called ‘ Bartolus sup prim’ Degesti veteris ’ was gotty and brougth aways by me Will’m Norres of ye Speike K(nt) y s xi daye off May foursaide and now ye boke of me ye fouresaide S r Will’m gene and by me left to remayne att Speike for an ay’e looome. In witteness whe'of (I have) wryty y ls w l my none hande and subscribed my name. P r me Will’m Norres, night.” These 1524 - henry NORRIS, AND CLEMENCE, HIS WIFE. Childwall Church , Lancashire . HENR Y NORRIS AND WIFE. 163 volumes are now in the library of the Athenaeum, at Liverpool. It used to be supposed, in accordance with popular tradition, that the handsome oak wainscot in the great hall at Speke was brought bodily by Sir William from Holyrood Palace as a further memento of fortune’s favours towards him on that memorable day ; but antiquaries have latterly held the opinion that, if any such spoils were taken from Holyrood, they were only “some hgures resembling the carved supporters of incient roofs, which are still connected with the wainscot.” At the battle of Musselburgh, or Pinkie, William, the younger, was slain (Sept. 10, 1547), at the age of twenty-five years, and he is expressly mentioned by Hollinshed among the gentlemen of the Duke of Somerset’s band who 00k part in the desperate charge on the Scottish )ikemen. Sir William is also thought to have keen present, for among the Harl. MS., 199786B, |3 a pen-and-ink drawing appended to a copy of hr William Norris’s “ Declaration,” executed about 590, representing the pennon, or gzvyddon, of David Boswell, of Balmuto, whose grandsons fell i the battle, under which is written : — “ This was liken by Sir William Norres, Knight, in Scotland.” 1 64 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. \ A long series of knights and esquires continuec the family through the stormy Civil Wars (it! which the family traditions were consistentb; Royalist) down to the early part of the eighteentl! century, when “Thomas Norris and his brother) dying without issue male, were succeeded b' Thomas’s daughter, Mary, heiress to her fathe and uncles, who, on the 9th November, 1 73b married Lord Sydney Beauclerk, a worthies fortune-hunter, the fifth son of Charles, first Duk of St. Albans. His son, Topham Beauclerk, was a man well known in the circles of literature, an associate c Johnson and Reynolds ; he married, in 176^ Lady Diana Spencer, of the Marlborough famih who had been divorced from Lord Bolingbrok for an intrigue with Mr. Beauclerk. They do m appear to have had any family, and he died i 1780, having dismembered the estates, alreac heavily mortgaged. Speke Manor was sold i[ Richard Watt, Esquire, who, having been a stab! boy in an inn in Liverpool, went out to the We Indies, where he amassed a fortune, and afte wards became a rich merchant of Liverpoo whose great-nephew, Richard Watt, Esquir afterwards inherited it.” ( Baines “ Lancashire.^ HENR Y NORRIS AND WIFE. 165 Speke Hall and the estates belong at the present time to Miss Watt, a collateral descendant )f the purchaser. Speke Hall is a very fine specimen of the old Lancashire manor-house, and its black and white imber-and-plaster walls, its moat (now dry), its nner courtyard or quadrangle, its ancient yew- rees, its stained glass windows, rich with mcestral heraldry, but above ail, its old dining- tall, make it worthy to be counted high among he antiquities and beauties of the County 5 ala®ne. In the hall, above the chimney-piece, is a arved genealogical tree in oak, representing hree generations of the Norris family, with gures of the persons described, the first in the eries being Henry and Clemence Norris, with leir two sons and three daughters below. Jnderneath was formerly an inscription, of which, 1 1800, only the concluding part remained, as )llows : — “ who married Clemens, one of the X aughters and heirs of Sir James Harrington, ho had by her, William Norris, Thomas, Anne, lemens, and Jane Norris.” This pedigree is ipposed to have been put up about 1560, by ir William Norris, the pillager of Holyrood. MONUMENTAL BRASSES. 1 66 At Chilclwall Church may be seen one more relic of the Norris family in the shape of a very I handsomely carved oaken pew-end, near the chancel. It is surmounted by a poppy-head j termination, and exhibits a shield quartered with the arms of Norris and Harrington, the latter quartering Banastre of Walton, and surmounted by a helmet bearing the eagle crest of the Norrises. In former times there used to be some stained glass windows in the church, which are ,i said to have contained Latin inscriptions, invoking prayers for the souls’ welfare of several members j of the family, and to one of these inscriptions was : attached the ancient crest of Norris — a lady's j head couped at the shoulders and attired gules, j This cognizance was afterwards changed for the “erne ” or eagle of the Ernys family, from whom the Speke estates were derived. We also hear of the effigy of William Norris forming part of one of these windows, attired in a white dress with a “ greate brode gurdell,” and of a Thomas and a Letitia Norris in blue. The arms of Henry Norris, with the same inaccuracies as appear in his brass, were formerly also blazoned in the stained windows of the old church of St. Nicholas at Liverpool. HENRY NORRIS AND WIFE. 167 A drawing of the brasses of Henry and idemence Norris, by Mr. H. C. Pidgeon, is ngraved in Ormerod’s “ Miscellanea Palatina,” >rinted in 1851, a valuable work (reprinted from he “Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire,”) containing a memoir >f the Norris family, to which, among other vorks, we are indebted for a considerable portion >f the foregoing particulars. I 5tr peter Xeob, Ikniabt aitb priest, anb lEllen, bis Wife. Sir peter Xegb, Ikmobt anb priest, anb Ellen, bis Mlfe. A.D. 1527. Winwick , Lancashire. T HIS monument is one of more than common interest, both on account of certain characteristics which it has as such, and also of the person whom it commemorates. Considering in the first place the brass itself, it lies in the Parish Church at Winwick, which contains the brass of Piers Gerard, already described. Situate in the Legh Chantry, or Chapel of the Trinity, as it used to be called, on the south side of the church, this monument formerly lay upon the floor, but now the stone slab with its inlaid brasses occupies an upright position against the eastern wall of the chapel. The brass is slightly worn, but is in the main in sound condition. Among monumental brasses, that of Sir Peter Legh occupies a unique position, being the only instance of an effigy of a composite character so to speak — a quaint blend of the sacred and the 172 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. secular — the knight and the priest. Yet Si Peter was not a member of any of thos' amphibious fraternities which constituted th church militant of mediaeval days. His was onl the case, not infrequent in those times, of one whc 1 as the winter of life closed in, sought shelter fron its storms within the calm haven of the church. The biographical sketch which follows wil explain this more fully. In the chapter 01 Costume in Fosbrooke’s “ British Monuments,! page 389, is an engraving of a stone effigy of knight from Connington, Hunts., who similarl; wears a cassock and cowl over his mail. A some what similar practice was adopted by knights wh< held some civil office. Thus William Yelverton Judge c. 1470, at Rougham, Norfolk; Sir Johi Crosbie, Alderman, 1475, Great St. Helen's London ; and Sir William Harper, Alderman 1573, at Bedford, wear their official robes ii addition to their armour. ( Oxford Manual q Brasses , page xl. ) Sir Peter’s dual character is rendered all th< more piquant by the presence of his lady by hi: side. The Oxford Manual describes this as “ th( brass of a knight in plate armour, bare-headed, ant SIR PETER LF.GH AND WIFE. T 73 nth his sword at his side. Over the armour he /ears a chasuble with ornamental borders, on his •reast a shield bearing quarterly of 6 : i. argent, a ross sable , in the first quarter a fleur-de-lys of the ist (we have looked in vain for the fleur-de-lys\ iaydock ; 2. gules, a cross engrailed argent, ,egh ; 3. a chevron between 3 crosses fleury ; 4. rgent , a mullet sable, Ashton ; 5. Molyneux ; 6. chevron between 3 covered cups, on a chief 3 Dzeno-es. O “ His hands are raised on the sides of the shield. “ His lady wears a pedimental head-dress, a long own with fur cuffs, above which is a short ideless kirtle of fur secured by a girdle, and over 11 a mantle bearing on the dexter side a cross, on be sinister, argent a pale fusilly sable, Savage. Ound her neck a T cross is suspended, j “ Above the figures a shield is hanging obliquely :om a strap, and bearing the 6 quarters above mentioned ; over it a helmet with mantling, and pe crest, a ram’s head erased, in his mouth a turel-sprig. Beneath were the figures of children, 'robably four sons and five daughters. “There is a marginal inscription with Evangelical ymbols (at each of the corners). ‘ + Orate pro iabz probi Viri dm Petri legh Militis Hie 174 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. tumulati et dne Elene ux’ eius filie Johis Savag Militis cuius quid’ Elene corpus sepelif Apu< Bewgenett 17 die Mensis, Maij Anno domin Millesimo cccclxxxxi.’ The inscription is rd sumed beneath the feet of the figures. 1 Iden qz petrus post ipsius Elene morte I sacerdotenj canoice cosecrat’ obijt apud lyme I hanley xi° dij| augusti a° di m° v c xxvij 0 .’ ” (“ Pray for the soul of a good man, Sir Peter Legh, knight, buriet here, and of Lady Ellen his wife, daughter of Si John Savage, knight, the body of which Ellei was buried at Bewgenett on the 17th day of tin month of May, a.d. 1491 The said Peter aftej the death of the said Ellen, having been con secrated a priest, died at Lyme in Hanley on th« nth day of August, a.d. 1527.”) Mr. Earwaker, in his “ East Cheshire,” exj plains that the round ornament at the end 0 Dame Ellen’s girdle is “a pomander, or smal box to hold perfumes.” Mr. Earwaker gives th< quarterings of Sir Peter’s shield thus : — 1 Haydock ; 2. Legh; 3. Boydell, ancient; 4 Walton of Ulnes Walton ; 5. Boydell ; 6. Crof of Dalton, and Mutler of Merton, conjoinec per fess ; and mentions that his seal bears a shielc of four quarters, 1 and 4 Haydock, 2 and ; SIR PETER LEGH AND WIFE. x 75 :gh, with helmet, mantling, and crest, and the i;cription, “ Sigillum Petri de Legh.” | Sir Peter, or Piers Legh was the fifth of that :me who represented the old house of Legh i Lyme, in Cheshire, a family which still ( atinues in possession of the ancestral domains, e succeeded his grandfather, Peter Legh, in 78, at the age of twenty-three, having been rn in 1455. His father, Peter Legh, married abel, daughter and co-heiress of James Croft, I Dalton, in Lonsdale, county Lancaster, but ed in 1468, thus predeceasing his father. Mabel, Sir Peter’s mother, died in 1474, or 75, at Dalton. Her effigy, and that of her isband may be seen in the chancel of Maccles- ld Church. The mention of Macclesfield lurch calls up memories of an older Piers Legh jiried there, whose faithful adherence to the jifortunate King Richard II. cost him his life. ; his pathetic story is preserved in his ancient pitaph in the Legh Chapel at Macclesfield Church : “ Here lieth the body of Perkin a Legh, That for King Richard the death did die, Betrayed for righteousnesse ; And the bones of Sr. Peers, his sonne, That with King Henry the Fifth did winne In Paris.” MONUMENTAL BLASSES. 176 The earliest event of which we have an record in the life of Sir Peter Legh is hi! marriage, or perhaps it should more correctly b| termed his betrothal, for he was only twelvi years old at the time. This was about the yea 1467. His bride was Ellen, daughter of Sir Joh Savage, by his wife, Catherine Stanley. Th bridal pair being within the prohibited degrees kinship, a Papal dispensation was thoug advisable ; this is said to have been obtaine from Pope Paul II., in 1468. Sir Peter Leg seems to have taken part in the Scottis campaign in the twenty-second year of Edwar IV. (1482) under the Duke of Gloucester, and t have served under Lord Stanley in these war: He was made a banneret at Hutton Field, 0 22nd August, in recognition of his bravery, whic was further rewarded by a grant for life of a annuity of ^10 from the new King, Richard III Notwithstanding these royal favours, Sir Pete found himself ranged under his local superio Lord Stanley, on Bosworth Field, in oppositio to Richard. On the 6th June, 1487, he fought? Stokefield in the new King’s cause. On 7th May, 1491, as the monument testifie: 1527 - sir PETER LEGH AND ELLEN, HIS WIFE. IVimuick Church, Lancashire. N SIR PETER LEGH AND WIFE. 179 Dame Ellen “shuffled off this mortal coil” at Bewgenett, near Petworth, in Sussex, and Sir Peter was left alone upon life’s highway. In 1496, a question as to the right of quartering the arms of Assheton upon his coat brought the knight to London, and, as we have already seen, James Stanley (afterwards Bishop of Ely) was present. The matter was tried before the Lord Constable, the Earl of Derby. The following is the record of his judgment : — “ This bill endented witnessed! that on Holy Rode day in May, the eleventh yere of the reigne of King Henry VII., the Earle of Derby, the Constable of England, in the King’s Chambre, at Westminstre, determined that Sir Thomas Assheton, of Assheton, Knight, should bere for his propre arms : silver , a molet unpierced of V. points sabull , alone or whartly (quarterly) in the first quarter yf moo armes by descent shall or' mowe fall to his inheritance. And Sir Peirs a Lygh and his heires shall or mowe bere the same armes whartly, so they be not in the first quarter, with a bezant of gold on the first point, for several weye, that if the forsaid Sir Peirs can any tyme hereafter fynde anie sufficient evidence of auctoritee, and before the constable allowable, that then and in that case he i So MONUMENTAL BRASSES. and his heires shall and raowe here the forsaid armes whartly and without bezant or other difference. Present at this determination Maist. James Stanley, warden of Manchester, and Sir Edward Stanley, and sonnes of the said erle, etc. And to this I, the said lord and constable, have sett my seale, irth day of May ye yere before specified.” In 1505, 3rd March, Sir Peter Legh was made Steward of Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale, and Clithero. This was a most lucrative and J highly honourable post, and in the royal grant was expressly declared to be conferred upon Sir Peter Legh, in recognition of services rendered to the King. A little later he was chosen one of the collectors for Lancashire of the proportion due from the county of the royal aids levied by the Crown, and j compromised by Parliament for the sum of 1 ,£40,000. On the accession of Henry VIII., Sir Peter Legh obtained two general pardons, one under the great seal of England, the other under that of the Duchy of Lancaster. This was a precautionary measure not infrequently resorted to in those days. In the second year of Henry VIII., he resigned the office of Seneschal SIR PETER LEGH AND WIFE. 181 Blackburnshire, and began to prepare himself >r a better world. He was now advanced in years, and looking ick upon his eventful life, his military experi- tces, and his official career, he saw the vanity of all, and desired earnestly to reconcile himself to leaven in the short space left him. He was but fulfilling a common mediaeval ideal, ike King David I. of Scotland, “ The day he wes bath Kyng and Knycht, A monk devote he wes the nycht.” Some are of opinion that it was by the advice his brother-in-law, Thomas Savage, Archbishop York, that he took the resolution of devoting is remaining years to the service of the Church, i all subsequent documents he describes himself > “Sir Piers Legh, knight and priest.’’ About the year 1524, he built the lodge known > “Lyme Cage,” and also Disley Chapel, to hich he appointed Thomas Davenport to be laplain and chantry priest. “ He seems,” says lr. Beamont (“ House of Lyme,”) “at one time > have intended to place in it three priests and vo deacons, and to make it also a little college,” it he died before this project could be carried it. His death occurred at Lyme, on the 11th 182 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. August, 1527, at the age of 72, and he was buried at Winwick, in the Legh Chantry. Among the muniments at Lyme are no less than three wills made by Sir Piers Legh, each signed by himself as “ knight and priest,' 5 and bearing his unusually large private seal. Of these the first is dated 1st February, 1521, in which he bequeaths numerous annuities to his children and others, but appoints no executors. The two other wills are dated respectively 1st December, 1522. “Of the latter, one relates to the disposition of some of his lands, and the other to his funeral. In the former he leaves very stringent injunctions for the support and endowment of Disley Chapel, which he had founded, and also refers to Lyme Hall, the park, the 1 ryng pale of the said park,’ and the game there. The latter, however, is a most curious and interesting will. In it Sir Piers desires his body ‘ to be buryed in the Trinite Chapell of Wynwhik afore the myddist of the altar ther’, wher as the prest shall alwaies (at) the tyme of consecracon stand even over and upon my harte ; thed r to be borne w th my s’uands and oth r cristen people. And my best beist to be broght to the Church for my mortuary. And that my Standert bano r and coote Armo r be had afore my body to the SIR PETER LEGH AND WIFE. 183 lurch in such condicion as shalbe thoght most muenyent by the aduyse of myn Executo r s and le same then to be dely’ed into my Chapell l Wynwhik ther to Remayn afterwards.’ If e dies within 20 miles of Winwick, his body to be carried thither upon a horse litter, covered, nd the horses to be craped and covered with lack, and ‘ myn armes to be sett on eu’y syde of le littor. ’ His executors are to buy 40 gowns f black cloth, and 24 gowns of white cloth, to e distributed to poor persons in his employ, who hall go about his body, those in white carrying irches in their hands, the half of which torches hall afterwards be given to Trinity Chapel at Vinwick, and the other half to Disley Chapel, "he executors are to spend £ 20 in masses on the ay of the funeral, and to provide a fitting dinner t Bradley for all such gentlemen and other onest people as shall come to the funeral. Vithin a month after his decease, they are to tuse 100 priests to say 100 masses and Dirige n one day, that is, 20 masses of Jesus, 20 of ne five wounds, 20 of our Lady, 20 of the Holy ihost, 10 of the Trinity, 10 of Requiem ; and very priest ‘ to have for his trouble 4d.’ And very priest is to get a clerk to help him sing 1 84 MONUMENTAL EE ASSES. Dirige and mass, and every such clerk to hav| 2d. ; and that at every mass aforesaid there bj offered a penny at the lavatory for the testatoi His executors are desired to ‘bye an ou’ley (overlay or covering) ‘of marbul and lay upo| me w l a pictor aft r me and my wieff and o r arme to be set in atho r ’ (either) ‘ of o r coots and sup’ scripcon to be set on the said ou’ley shewinj o r names and the daies and yeris of o r decessez On every Good Friday for seven years after h decease his executors are to distribute 2s. 6 cj amongst the poorest of his tenants in Warringtol and Winwick parishes ; and also every even c our Lady five years after his decease, 4d. each ! to be given to five of the poorest of his sai tenants, and that every one of them be require ‘to knele upon thar knees w l in the said Trini Chapell (on) the said evens and eu’y of tharr therfor to say a lady Sauto r (O Lady, save u for my Soule.’” ( Earwaker s “ East Cheshire. The fidelity with which Sir Peter’s executo carried out his directions in the matter of h tombstone gives reason to suppose that h injunctions relative to his spiritual welfare wei equally well observed. Sir Peter Legh’s children were Peter Leg SIR PETER LEGH AND WIFE. 185 11s successor, John, Gowther, Richard, Margaret, md Alice. Gowther Legh was the founder of he Grammar School at Winwick. He left a will dated 14th April, 1546) somewhat resembling lis father’s, directing his interment in the Trinity Tapel in Winwick Church, “with suche nomber >f black and whyte gownes and cotes, with tapers md torches lighte as my executors think proper.’’ de also directs his executors to “ provyde for an lonest dynner at my howse of Woodcrofte for ny fryndes, gentylmen, and priestes, the day of my Duryall.” ( Beamon? s “ History of Winwick.") The Trinity or Legh Chapel in Winwick Church, )efore alluded to, was a chantry to which the ippointment of priests belonged to the Legh amily. fIDargaret Bulfcelep. HDaroaret Bulfcelep. A.D. 1528. Sefton, Lancashire. [ N a square pew in the south aisle of Sefton Church, near one of the windows, lies the ;rass of Margaret Bulkeley, whose maiden name l as Molyneux. The figure is a full-front, and represents a lady 1 a long dress with wide sleeves edged with fur, le dress cut square at the neck. She wears a edimental head-dress, and a girdle with three oses in front, from which hangs a chain with a issel or ornament at the end. Suspended by a chain round her neck is a swelled T, or St. Anthony’s Cross. Her feet, in hoes, appear beneath her robe. Her hands are dined in prayer. “Above her is a double canopy groined, and p debased style. At the dexter side of the slab re these arms on two shields : 1st, azure a cross lioline, or, for Molyneux; 2nd, a chevron ■etween 3 horse’s heads bridled : at the sinister MONUMENTAL BRASSES. 190 side, 1 st, quarterly 1st and 4th, argent ; 2nd sd 3rd, gules a fret, or, Dutton; 2nd Molyneu|” ( Oxford Manual of Brasses.) The inscription is as follows : — “ Orate p a Margarete ffilie Rici Molyneux Milit’ qu°d,n ux' Johls Dutton Armig’ dni de dutton et posla ux’ Willmi Bulcley Armig’ que tuc catariai ppetuam fundauit ac reddidit’ & terras suffiet’p uno capellao in ppetmi die celebratur’ ac p alsz ejusdem Margarete paretu & benefactor’ sd*’ exoraturum stabilat & dotavit que obijt xxj e februarij a°dni xv c xxviij 0 cui’ ale ppicietur deus. (“ Pray for the soul of Margaret, daughter 1 Sir Richard Molyneux, knight, formerly wife t John Dutton, Esquire, lord of Dutton, al afterwards of William Bulcley Esquire; w) founded this perpetual chantry and endowed t with rents and lands for one chaplain for eve to celebrate divine service for the souls f Margaret, her relations, and benefactors : w)> died the 21st day of February a.d. 1528.”) Margaret Bulkeley, as before stated, was ' birth a Molyneux, and this accounts for lr affection for the old church where her ancesto; and family were buried, and where she herst must often, as a girl, have worshipped. MARGARET BU LICE LEY. 191 Her younger brother, James Molyneux, was jector of Sefton Church, and Archdeacon of Richmond. Her elder brother was Sir Thomas lolyneux, who fought for Edward IV. under le Duke of Gloucester in Scotland, at the siege f Berwick, and was made a banneret on the Eve f St. James. This Sir Thomas was father to Sir William (lolyneux, who did such feats of derring-do at lodden, and who also lies interred in Sefton ( hurch, and an engraving of whose brass is given this volume. Margaret Bulkeley was con- quently Sir William’s aunt, and she mentions m in her will as “ my nevewe.” Her two arriages have been mentioned in the inscription >ove quoted. Her affection for her birthplace is shown by her foundation of the chantry in :fton Church referred to in her epitaph, and by e fact of her burial there. “In the middle I uth window of the church is an inscription 1/oking the prayers of the reader for Margett jilcley, daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux, llight, and wyff unto Joh e Dutton and Will" 1 I lcley, Esq., whose goodness caused this \ ldow to be made of the will of Sir Robt I ynson Executor to the said Margett the yere of 1 92 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. o r Lord 1543.” This Sir Robert Perkinson wa: the chantry priest of her institution, and i: mentioned in her will, dated 4th November, 152' (20 Henry VIII.), a long and curious document It begins thus : — “ In the name of God, Amen I, Margaret Bulkley Wydowe, Late wyff oj Wyll’m Bulkley Esquyer, to all Cristen people ir Crist beleyving, to whome this my presenj Wrytyng Indentid tripertite shall come, or it shal here or see, Sendith gretyng in our Lord Got everlastyng. Knowe ye me the said Margare' Bulkley to have Enfeoffed my full trusty frynde; Wyll’m Leylond, Alexander Radcliff, Johr Towneley, Alexander Osbaldeston, Thomas Sotheworth, knyghtes ; Edmund Trafford, Peersj Leegh, Henry ffaryngton, Wyll’m Norresj Thomas Irland, Robert Molyneux, of Hawton, John Atherton, Thomas Leylond, Henry Blundell, esquyers ; Edward Molyneux, Person of Sefton, Wyll’m Longley, Person of Prestwich. Clerkes ; Robert Molyneux of Mellyng, Wyll’m Bradshagh of Uplythreland, James Blundell of I nee, Gentilmen ; and Robert Perkynson Chappelayn, of and in all my meses (messuages) lands, ten’ts, etc., within the townes of Cuerden, Walton in the Dale, and Thorneton, within the 1528. MARGARET BULKELEY. Sefton Church } Lancashire. MA R GA RE T B UL KELE Y. >95 Countie of Lancastre.” The above mentioned feoffees were to permit the testatrix to enjoy the rents and profits of the lands during her life, and after her death to apply the same in liquidating any of her debts which her personal goods might ; be insufficient to satisfy, and, subject to such payment of debts, to hold the aforesaid lands, etc., “ to the use exibicon fyndyng and kepyng of an able I and honest p r ist to say and Celebrate Masse and other Dyvyne s’uyce in the p’oche Church of Sefton at the Alter of our blessyd ladye of petye, And to pray for the Saule of me the seid Margaret, And for the saules of John Dutton and Wyll’m Bulkley Esquyers, my husbandes, And for the Saules of my ffader and moder, brethern and Susters, my vncles, the Saule of S r Wyll’m Leylond, knyght, my nevewe, and all other my p’genyte and good rynds, and for all Cristen Saules for eu r more.” I hen come lengthy and elaborate directions as to he duties of the priest in the chantry founded >y her. “ Also it is my will that the seid /tst shall say eu’y quarter of the yere Placebo, pirige, Comendacon, and Masse of Requiem, ^ith all Suffrages and s’uyces p’teynyng therunto P r m y Saule and the saules aforesaid ; Also it is A W >H that the said p’ist shall say yerely and for ig6 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. eu r more that day wech I shall fortune to dece e vppon or within thre dayes next followyng, jn Obite with all suffrages therunto belongyng >r my saule and the saules aforeseid ; And that ie seid p’ist shall say Masse eu’y Sonday, Wednesd and ffryday except ther be a resonable cat;, And other dayes when he is disposed. “And at the further Lavatorye to say De p’funis and pray for my Saule and the Saules af rehersed and all Cristen Saules for evermc And also to say eu’y quarter of the yere for eu r Masse de no’ie Ihu vppon the fryday, and f) tymes eu’y yere Masse of the fyve woundes of > Lord Ihu Crist for my Saule, the Saules af rehersed, and all Cristen Saules. Also it is will that such p’ist as shall be put to obs’ue said s’uyce shall be an able and honest p’ist £ lerned to syng his playn song and to helpe syng in the quere at Matyns, Masse, evenscg and other dyuyne s’uyce in the seid Church Sefton on festfull dayes. And also it is my i that the seid p’ist shall say Masse vppon Sa lt Margarett’s day yerelv for eu r afore the ymageif Saynt Margaret within the said Church and pray for my Saule and the Saules aforesaid. “ Also it is my will that the seid p’ist shall $ MARGARET BULKELEY. 197 erely for eu r in the fyve pryncipall ffests of our ,ady and the visitacon of our Lady eu’y one of iieym and within their V’tas thre tymes Masse of he seid fests, with this Collecte, Deus firma spes re redempco’is. And also it is my will that my lid feoffes and their heires shall suffre the seid i’ist for tyme beyng to occupie and Manure” (i.e., lanceuvre, manage: so used in Milton’s ‘ Paradise .ost ’) “ all the seid meses &c to his most p’fet and I ehove by thadvice and ou r sight of my seid Ioffes and their heires, without takyng of In- )mes of the ten’nts for tyme beyng.” Then come rections as to appointment of new trustees, and direction to exchange a windmill and lands in hornton for other land with “ S r Wyll’m olyneux, knyght, my nevewe, or his heires.” 1 Next follow provisions for the appointment of 1 iests to serve her chantry, the right of appoint- bnt to belong in the first instance toiler nephew, r William Molyneux, and his heirs male, klso it is my will that all the evidences nc r nyng all the lands aboue rehersed shall aft' t decesse be put in a Coffre and Remayne in 1 i Custodye and kepyng of the Abbot and 1 went of Whalley and their Successors for eu r 1 ierof the said Abbot to have one key, my seid 198 MONUMENTAL By,' ASSES. feoffes an other key and the p'ist for the tymj beyng the thrid key. And the same evidences t be forth comyng at all tymes for the defence 0 the - seid lands accordyng to this my Will. Also is my will that if there be no p’ist admytted to thl said s’vyce in my liff, that then my seid feoffes an! their heires shall admytt first the above sei Robert Perkynson Chapellayn to the seid s’uyc if he then be on lyve.” This document has a small and beautiful sea attached, bearing the cross moline. ( Transaction of the Historic Society of Lancs, and Ches., Vo 34> P- I 3°\ It should be noticed that among the “feoffees mentioned in the will are Piers Legh and Williai Norris, presumably the sons of Sir Peter Legl, knight and priest, and of Henry Norris, Esq whose brasses have already been described. Ij the Reports of the Royal Commissioners c Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Queen Man the Chantry is thus mentioned : — “ The Chauntrie at the alter of o r Lady w l hin th p’och churche of Sefton, — Roberte Parkinson p'ist Incumbent ther of the ffoundacon of Margare Bulkley to celebrate ther for the sowlez of hir art hir antecessors. The sam is at the alter c MARGARET BULKELEY. 199 lady wdiin the said churche, and the sam prest pth celebrate ther according to the ordinance of ; s ffoundacon. First one chalez poiz by est vj. tz. P ij. olde vestments. P one masse boke. . . The said prest hayth in his owne cupacon one wynde mylle standing in Thornton, r yere xx s . ( Chetham Society's Publications , ol. 5p, Lancashire Chantries , p. log ). Hike Xaurence anfc ber two Ibusbanbs. r Slice Xaureitce anfc ber two Ibusbanbs. A.D. I53I. Middleton , Lancashire. S originally executed, this monument com- prised the figures in brass of Alice Laurence and three husbands, two of whom were on her right, and the third upon her left The outermost figure upon her right has been lost, but the matrix in the stone slab indicates its outline : the effigy is said to have been that of a yeoman ; her remaining husbands, in the armour of esquires, still support her, one on either hand. Alice, or Alicia, wears the pedimental head- dress so familiar to us, a long dress fitting tightly to the body, and cut square at the throat, and disclosing an undergarment of muslin or lawn, I and inner sleeves of the same substance. She has wide fur trimming to the sleeves of her dress. A handsomely ornamented belt and pendant adorns her waist. She is represented in full front, and has her hands joined in prayer. hand. 204 MONUMENTAL EE ASSES. On her right hand is one of her husbands, with smoothly shaved face and long hair, cut straight on the forehead, and hanging down on either side. His plate armour is of a late pattern, and in the scroll-like ornaments upon the breast plate, tuilettes, and knee and elbow-plates, shows something of the effect which the Renaissance was producing upon the design of armour, which it influenced as it did every other branch of art. He wears sword and dagger, but no gloves ; his hands are raised in prayer. His feet have flat shaped sabbatons. The husband upon Dame Alice’s left hand, in general appearance very closely resembles hirr whom we have been describing, but his armour is less ornate. Both figures are poorly drawn. They fact slightly inward towards their wife. Below the figures is a long strip of brass, bearing in quaini old-English type the following inscription : — “ Hit jacet Alicia Laurence quondam ux’ Johannis Laurence Ricardi Radclyffe de Tower et Thomt Bothe de Hakensall Armiger que obijt Vicesimc Septimo die Marcii Anno dni millimc CCCCC°XXXJ° Ira dmcalis A. Quoru Animabus propicietur deus AMEN.” (“ Here lies Alice 1 I 53 I * ALICE LAURENCE AND HER HUSBANDS. Middleton, Lancashire. ALICE LAURENCE. 207 Laurence, formerly wife of John Laurence, Richard Radclyffe of Tower, and Thomas Bothe of Hakensall, Esquire, who died on the 27th day of March in the year of our Lord, 1531, Dominical letter A. On whose souls may God have mercy. Amen.”) It should be noticed that the very uncommon practice of mentioning the Dominical letter in addition to the date occurs both in this inscription and in that of Edmund Assheton, priest, whose brass is adjoining. At the corners of the stone slab were formerly four shields. The two at the head of the stone are all that now remain. The first one bears the blazon of the Asshetons of Middleton. This brass, it should be remembered, com- memorates the wife, who is decidedly the most mportant personage of the group, and probably -vas considered of better family and standing than my of her husbands. Alice Laurence was by birth an Assheton, )eing second daughter of Sir Richard Assheton l md Isabel Talbot : sister to Sir Richard, the dodden hero, and (probably) aunt to Edmund, he priest. Therefore in the church where her ncestry were buried, the living of which, the 208 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. manor, and all the surrounding country, belonged to her family, she not unnaturally figures witl some superiority over her husbands. Note, toe that she bears her paternal arms upon a shield and not upon a lozenge merely. We have an analogous case in the brass o Margaret Bulkeley at Sefton. Mr. Corser in hi notes to the “Iter Lancastrense ” (Chet. Pub., 1845), thinks that in the husbands countenances “ is evidently an attempt at somej thing like the originals.” T ir William HDoI^neuy, IRnigbt, anb 3ane anb i£li 3 abetb, bis Wives. Sit* Milltam nftol^neuj:, Ikniobt, anb 3ane anb I8li3abetb, bis Mives. A.D. 1548. Sefton , Lancashire. O N a flat stone at the foot of the chancel steps of the fine old church of Saint Helen it Sefton, lies the monument of Sir William Vlolyneux with his two wives, one on either hand. Vbove his head is a shield bearing Molyneux, I wire a cross moline or ; the crest, a plume of leacock’s feathers ; and two banners (one of finch is now lost). Over the head of the first wife are her arms |Pon a lozenge. Beneath the figures is another scutcheon bearing quarterly of 12, viz., Molyneux, fiarnet, Villars, Keiton, Eliot, Thweng, Holland, leyton, Haydock, Dutton, Thornton, and lisshull. Below the shield is the motto, “ En oit devant.” The inscription, upon another 'ass plate, gives briefly the most salient features Sir William’s history and character, juillielmus Molineux Miles dominus de Sefton 212 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. ter adversus Scotos regnante in Anglia Regj Henrico octavo in proelium missus fortiter a gessit maxime vero apud ffloyden ubi dt armorum vexilla scotis strenue resistentibus sv manu coepit. In pace cunctis charus amic< consilio egenos eleemosinis sublevavit. Du; 1 uxores habuit, priorem Janam Richardi Rugge , comitatu Salopie militis unicam filiam et herede, ex qua Richardum Janam et Annam posteriore Elizabetham filiam et heredem Cutberti Cliftq armigeri ex qua Guilielmu Thoma et Ana genuit. Annos 65 vixit hie in spe resurrection; cum maioribus requiescit Anno domini 15J mense Julij.” (“William Molineux, Knight, loi. of Sefton, having been three times sent to figl: against the Scots in the reign of King Henj VIII. of England, behaved with great braver, but especially at Flodden, where he captured wii his own hand two standards of arms from tj: Scots in spite of a fierce resistance. In peac, dear to all, he assisted his friends with h counsel, the needy with his charity. He had t\J) wives, the first Jane, only daughter and heiress f Richard Rugge, knight, in the county of Sale, by whom he had Richard, Jane, and Anne: t.i other, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Cuthb(t SIR WILLIAM MOLYNEUX AND WIVES. 213 Clifton, Esquire, by whom he had William, Thomas, and Anne. He lived 65 years, and rests here among his ancestors in hope of the resurrection. In the year of our Lord 1548, and the month of July).” The date appears to have stood originally as 1546, and to have been subsequently altered to 1548. Sir William Molyneux’s brass is of interest as illustrating the change in armour which took place about the middle of the sixteenth century. He is arrayed in plate armour of a pattern then in vogue, being less cumbrous than the earlier styles, and with more ornament about it. Beneath his knee-guards are small crescents : he has fringed gauntlets, his hands being clasped in prayer. He wears beard and moustaches. The most notable eatures are the tuilettes , or thigh-guards, which it this period have become greatly elongated, and he hood of chain-mail in place of a helmet. This Tain coif or hood is precisely similar to those net with in the earliest brasses, the warriors of idward I.’s days, and appears to have struck Mr. • G. Waller as so incongruous that he starts the upposition that in the precipitancy of his ummons to Scotland, Sir William was forced to 214 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. levy contributions upon the armour of hi; ancestors (which, in support of this theory, w( must assume to have been hanging in hi ancestral hall). See the paper by Mr. Waller ii “Transactions of Historic Society of Lancs, anc Ches.,” Vol. 2, p. 248. This theory is alsc adopted by the Rev. A. Hume in his paper reac before the same Society ( Transactions, Vol. 5, p 186. See also Haines Manual of Brasses, pp Hi . , cxiii., and cxxii.). About his neck is a handsome collar or chain with a stone brooch in front, but without a crosj or other pendant. The cross moline, however, of his famil;' appears upon his breast-plate, apparently being enamelled or inlaid in the armour. He is girl with sword and dagger. On either side are the figures of his wives both attired in pedimental head-dresses am wearing narrow necklaces. They have wide cuffs to their sleeves, anc chain girdles with a long piece of pendant chaii sustaining a jewelled ornament. All three figures are well drawn, and there is a good deal 0 originality and freshness in their design — ai uncommon quality in monumental brasses. SIR WILLIAM MOLYNEUX AND WIVES. 215 They are, however, blemished by too great a profusion of cross-shading, which destroys the breadth of effect. The Molyneux are one of the oldest of our Lancashire houses. From the time of the Conquest, and for many centuries afterwards, they lived at Sefton, but the only vestige of their old dwelling now left is the moat which once surrounded the hall. The Molyneux family traces its descent from William des Molines, so named from Moulins, a | town of Bourbonnois in France, “who is named the eighteenth in a list of Norman warriors, given by Holinshed, and prefixed, as a citation from ‘ the Chronicles of Normandy,’ to his copy of the Battle Abbey Roll, with which latter unauthentic document Collins and Wotton in their several Baronetages confound it.” ( Ormerod's Miscellanea Palatina — A rticle on the Norris family ). “ Soon after the Conquest he acquired by gift }f Roger de Poictou the Lordship of Sefton, Thornton, and Kerden, and made Sefton his chief seat. According to others, it was to Vivian, his ;on, that these manors were given ; however his may be, Adam de Mulyneus (son of Vivian and his wife Siwarda) held half a Knights’ fee in 2l6 MONUMENTAL EE ASSES. Ceffton, and gave lands to the Abbey o! Cockersand under the seal of the cross moline.’ ( Baines Lancashire .) The family owned the manor of Speke before i came into the hands of the Norrises. Sir William, whose commemorative brass lie: before us, must have been born, if we compute the date from his epitaph, in 1483. The grea events of his life seem to have been his three Scottish campaigns, culminating in the famous victory of Flodden Field. In this battle, as his epitaph states, he capturec “ sua manu,” two standards from the enemy which were both formerly delineated above the shield on his tomb, but, as before stated, one onl) now remains. This is the banner of the Earl 01 Huntley. “It represents on a field gules, ships or galleys argent ; a falcon rising or, between £ stag in his course and a greyhound running 01 courant, argent ; in the point the cri-de-guerre or war-cry ‘ clanc-tout.’ In the draught at Herald’s College this is read clang-toye. The monument doubtless is the more correct authority. It has been explained as signifying ‘ call all ’ or clamez- tont. This does not appear satisfactory, as it is founded on an erroneous reading. The other t54 S - SIR WILLIAM MOLYNEUX AND HIS WIVES. Se/ton Church , Lancashire. , SIR WILLIAM MOLYNEUX AND WIVES. 219 banner is also delineated at Herald’s College, from which we are enabled to present its blazon. It represents on a field gules an heraldical tiger running or. At present we are unable to state to what chieftain it belonged.” (Mr. Waller’s paper referred to above). “ The ballad of ‘ Flodden Field,’ the work of one who knew Lancashire and Cheshire well, names seventeen in Lord Derby’s farewell to the chieftains whom he conjectures to have fallen there before their followers could have broken and fled in the manner described in the tidings first brought to the Royal camp.” Among them is Sir William Molyneux. The ballad of “ The Scottish Field,” already cited, also mentions Sir William in its alliterative verses : — “With Sir William Molynex With a manfull meany.” (i.e., following). For these services, like Sir Edward Stanley and many others, Sir William Molyneux was the 'ecipient of a letter of thanks addressed to him by 1 he king. Seacombe, in his “ House of Stanley,” ; ays, “This most valiant and worthy gentleman appeared like the north star in its glory ; he was ■ man of great command in Lancashire, the mage of whose mind was as peculiar as the . 220 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. elegant portrait of his body, nobly forgiving H; enemies if reconcilable, and refusing ignobly |> be revenged of them if obstinate. This nob: mind, advanced by his heroic education, mac: him acceptable at court as well as in the countr, where his hospitality was renowned, his equr and prudence beloved, and his interest large aijl commanding. In him was seen the idea of tb true English gentleman ; in favour at court, i repute in the country, at once loved and feared. “His usual saying was ‘ That he never saw fe' but in the backs of his enemies.’ In a word, 1: lived in all capacities a public good, and died common loss.” By his first wife, Jane, only daughter aii heiress of Sir Richard Rugge of Shropshire, h children were Richard (afterwards knighted), a engraving of whose brass is given on anoth - page ; Anne, who married Alexander Standish, Standish ; and Jane, married to Richard Bold, Bold. By his second wife, Elizabeth, only daughf and heiress of Cuthbert Clifton, Esq., he ha Thomas ; Anne, wife of Henry Halsall of Halsal; and Margaret. (See Foster’s Lancashi ; Pedigrees , where, however, Elizabeth is named ; SIR WILLIAM MOLYNEUX AND WIVES. 221 laughter of Cuthbert Elison , from a misreading >f the epitaph). The family of Molyneux, on leaving Sefton, ettled at Croxteth, and its members successively cquired the titles of baronet, viscount, and earl ; :s present representative, William Philip folyneux, bearing in his title of Earl of Sefton a ;miniscence of the old home of his family. Sefton Hall, existing in 1372, and then in its i ristine grandeur, was a stately pile, surrounded y a circular moat still in existence, inclosing jbout a quarter of an acre of elevated ground, and ood opposite to the front of the church. The irm house which occupied the site of this ancient iat of the noble family of Molyneux was taken own at the beginning of the century, and all that ow remains of this mansion are a few heaps of ones scattered from its strong and massive walls, bout 70 years ago a Catholic chapel which Ijoined the old hall was taken down (. Baines ancashire. Revised Ed., /., 395.) The beautiful old church of Sefton contains imerous other memorials of the Molyneux mily. “ On the East window, in painted glass, is 1 inscription in Latin ‘ Pray for the good estate William Molineus, Knight, who caused this 222 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. (window) to be made, a.d. 1542/ with thrc shields of arms underneath.” (Baines). Shielc; with the cross moline adorn the porch, many the pew ends, etc., and there are numerous tom', and monuments of the various members of th; house interred in the church ; notably, a fine carved recumbent effigy of stone, representing . crusader in chain-mail with knees crossed, an bearing upon his shield the cross moline. A small engraving of the upper portion of S William Molyneux’s effigy is given in M Waller’s article before referred to. Sir IRicbarb flDolpneuy, Iknigbt, anb bis two Wives nameb Eleanor. Sir IRicbarb flDotyneuy, Ikniobt, ant> bis two Wives natneO lEleanor. A.D. 1568. Sefton, Lancashire. HIS brass represents the son of Sir William Molyneux, the hero of Flodden, whose monument has been already noticed. Like his father, Sir Richard married twice, and in his effigy, appears similarly placed between both his wives. The figures in brass are inlaid upon the surface of an altar tomb in the chancel of Sefton Church adjoining, and on the south side of Sir William’s monument. By his first wife (according to Baines) Sir Richard had five sons and eight daughters, and this would seem to be corroborated by the tomb, upon which, at the foot of the first wife, are the effigies in brass of eight girls and five boys. Foster, however, in his “ Pedigrees of Lancashire Families,” gives five sons and six daughters as die issue of Sir Richard’s first wife. According- Q 226 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. to Baines, the children of the second wife wer five sons and one daughter. Foster gives thre sons and one daughter. The portion of the braJ representing these children has been lost, an therefore affords no clue. The armour of Sir Richard is not materiall different in style from that of his father. He i bare-headed, and wears beard and moustache: A small ruff appears round his neck, an corresponding frills at his wrists. His hands ar joined in prayer, and he is girt with sword an dagger. Beneath his feet are flowers and plan! growing. The figure is small, and though neatly cut, th general design is not very good, being stiff, an; rather clumsy, while the legs are disproportior ately large. Both wives are simply dressed i long-skirted robes open in front, with sleeve puffed at the shoulder. They wear frills at th neck and wrists, and pedimental head-dresses c a late fashion, closely resembling the head-dres known as the “ Paris-head.” ( See Oxford Mamie of Brasses, page evii.) Upon a brass plate belo^ the figures are some quaint verses which at firs sight might be supposed to relate to the twi SIR RICHARD MOLYNEUX AND WIVES. 229 ielp-mates who flank the good knight on either hand. Their meaning, however, on a closer >erusal, is manifestly allegorical. “ Dame Worshope was my guide in life and did my doings guide : Dame Wertue left me not alone when soule from bodye hyed. And thoughe that death with dinte of darte hath brought my corps on sleepe, The eternall God my eternall soule eternally doethe keepe.” Only a few fragments of the strip of brass hich formerly encompassed the tomb are left, id these have been pieced together in wrong ■der, and read thus : — “ — ghte & dame elenore s wyffe, bodyes of, S r Richarde.” In Baines’ ne some further portions of the inscription, ough apparently not all, were in existence : he ves it thus : — “ Sir Richard Molyneux, knight, d Dame Elenore his wyffe, whose soules God on.” | Little is known of Sir Richard Molyneux, save 1 tt he gained his knighthood on the occasion of I ; coronation of Queen Mary, and served as • eriff for Lancashire in 1566. He died in 1568. He was an executor and legatee under the will (j Anthony Molyneux, Rector of Sefton and 230 MONUMENTAL EE ASSES. Walton, which is dated 13th October, 1553. It runs thus: — . . . I desire S r Rye Molyneux, knyght, my M r and patrone and my brother in la we, Lawrence Ireland, squier, to be my executors, gevyng theym fulle auctoryte and power w l out scrouple of conscyence to adde to I mynnyshe and chaunge any pt of this my wyll at there pleasure as they shall thinke most mette and convenyent ” (truly a wide and weighty discretion!) “ And ffor their paynes I beqwethe to ayther of (them) xl s , and to ye said M r Molyneux the best garnysshe of pewt r y l I have | ( Chet ham Society's Pitblications, Vol.\ 5/, Lancs, and Ches. Wills, page 263.) Sir Richard’s first wife was Eleanor, daughter] of Sir Alexander Radcliffe of Ordsall, and his second, Eleanor, daughter of Robert Maghull of Maghull, Esquire. By his first wife (according to Foster) he had William, his eldest son (who married Brigitta, wife of John Caroll, and daughter of John Lassell, Esquire), and who predeceased his father, dying in 1567. Richard, John, Anthony, and Alexander, Jane, Ellen, Alice, Maria, Ann, and Margaret. His second wife (according to the same authority) bore him Thomas, Robert, Eleanor, and Anthony. Ibuqb Starfcp, Esquire. IbuQb 5tarfe\>, Esquire. A.D. 1577. Over , Cheshire. HTHE brass of Hugh Starky of Oulton, in the Church of St. Chad at Over, near Winsford, in the County Palatine of Chester, is well preserved, and is a fine example of co-temporary monumental art. The Cheshire esquire of the sixteenth century appears smoothly shaven, and wearing his hair long. The effigy is full-fronted, and the hands, which are without gloves, are joined in prayer. He wears plate armour over a shirt of mail, portions of which are shown. The lower part of his mail shirt is divided in front. He wears sabbatons with spurs, and his knee and elbow plates are handsomely ornamented. He wears a dagger and a cross-hilted sword, the latter slung in a slanting position behind him. The high shoulder guards should be noticed. As we have seen, the head is bare, but rests upon a helmet richly adorned with mantling, and bearing his 234 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. crest, a stork’s head erased, having a viper in its beak. The feet rest upon a mound of earth, upon which are plants or flowers and grass. Beneath the figure is this inscription in old-English letters. “ Off yor charite py for the soule of Hugh Stark) of Olton, esquier, gentilman usher to Kyng Henry y e VIII. & son to Hugh Starky of Oltor esquier which Hugh v e son decessyd the yere o o r lord God mv c , o hos soule Ihu haue m r cy.” There is also a shield charged with storks, the “ canting ” heraldic bearings of the Stark) family. This monument appears to have been engravec in the lifetime of the person it commemorates (; not infrequent practice), for the date has beer only partially given — a blank space being left foi the insertion of the year. Hugh Starky ’s will was proved 8th June, 1577 but the style of the brass is of a much earliei date. That Hugh Starky was a person oi consequence appears from his epitaph just quoted. He came of old lineage, and his family stil flourishes, though not upon the ancestral acres. He was son and heir of Hugh Starky, oi HUGH STARRY, ESQUIRE. 237 Oulton, Esquire, by Margaret, daughter of Philip Egerton, of Egerton, Esquire. He rebuilt the church of Over in 1543. Hanshall, in his “History of Cheshire,” mentions “another altar tomb in the front of the chancel steps, containing the ashes of Hugh Starky, the rebuilder of the church. The inscription, now obliterated, ran thus: — ‘Hie jacent corpora Hugonis Starky de Olton arm’i, & Margaretae uxoris ejus.’ In the south aisle, in stained glass, are the figures of John Starkey of Oulton, and Agnes, his wife, the male figure is in plate armour.” Hugh Starky married Margaret, daughter and heiress of — Swanwick of Wirswall, by whom he had no issue. He had, however, an illegitimate son, Oliver Starky, a Knight of Malta, and subsequently Grand Master of the Order. Hugh Starky ’s will, dated 5th August, 1560, is an interesting document, and shows that the wealthy Cheshire squire did not forget his numerous servants and dependants when he was settling his affairs with a view to leaving the world. “I will,” reads the testament, “y'iff (it) Tall ffortune me to dye w th in the countie of ^hest r that then my bodye shall be buried in ye Tansell of Ov r in my tombe there. I bequeathe 238 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. to Margarie my wyffe xl t!e marks of my lands the inheritance of my ffather as is appoynted urn her by writinge and the third pte of all my goo<; and ye litle fouldon borde y* standeth in ye plorb He makes provision for his sisters, and f- numerous servants: — £< To Hugh Wettenhd xx s yearly duringe ye lyf of his ffather so y l he not retayned unto any man’s service nor wea: any mane’s liv r aye duringe ye same tyme. T Jane Wadnett xl s to her mariage. All tr apprell of my bodie to ye said Hughe Wettenh;! and to John Leche. To Ellen Ecton iij i towards y e exsebycon of her poore childre I bequethe lxxx u to make a substanci;! horse waye paved betwixt Darley and the Namp' wich and to defend it w l carts. Unto my cos\ Thomas Starnynge my best horse or geldynge : his aleccon and v marks. To Willm Greene n s r vante my best wayne, one plowe, one cowe, ai one harrowe. To ev r y one of my servants both men and women w ch shalbe dwelling w* me y e daye of my deceasse a whole yeare’s wag' apeese. . . . To John Brickinden, nov pson of Grace churche in London my newe clotl gowene furred w l marterons (martens). . . My said wyffe shall have ij ffether beds and HUGH STARKY, ESQUIRE. 239 matrases, compleate, one sylv r sake, and one sylv r cuppe psell gylte wherein she useth to drinke ale, vj kyne and vj sylv r spones in full satisfaccon of all her pte of my goods &c. “(Part of the residue) I will y l my executors shall imploy towards ye p r ferments of mariage of poore mayds, releve and succore of poore infants and fatherles children and other poore neadie people, repayring and mendyng highe wayes and decayed bridges, and suche other lyke and chari- table good deades as my said executors and ye surviv r s of them shall thinke most charitable and ^odlye to be done. I ordayne my right trustie md lovinge cosens Richard Wylbra Esquyer, (ohn Brewne of Stapleford, Esquyer” (a name ong remembered in Cheshire as typifying the lighest form of puritan life and “ the primitive >iety,”) “ Richard Starkye of Stretton Esquyer, nd John Leche gentelman my execetors, and for leir paynes I gyve & c to ev r y one ye sum of v H . nd I make S r John Savage, Knyghte, 'upvisor.” This will was proved 8th June, 15 77. - hetham Soc. Publications , Vol. 5/, p. 192). Of this house was Ralph Starky, known for his Election of Cheshire pedigrees, and as author of 240 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. a poem called “ Infortunio,” of some merit; hi lived in James I.’s reign. The Starkies of Hunt royde, co. Lancaster, are descendants of Hugl Starky. Darley Hall, the ancient moated dwelling c the family, has been taken down. Leland, in hi “ Itinerary,” says, “ Starkies is at Dorle, a v mile from Northwich, a scant mile from Oldeton, and miles from Vale Royal.” Gbontas Ben. ftbomas Ben. A.D. 1586. Walt on-on-t he- Hill, Lancashire. T^HE brass of Thomas Beri, or Berry, consists of a quadrangular plate bearing the effigy ■figure at the left side, with the date, while the maining space is filled with a quaint rhyming scription commemorative of the deceased and of :harity founded by him. I This brass was formerly in the parish church of alton-on-the-Hill, near Liverpool, but is now pt in the vestry. The figure of Thomas Beri shows an elderly n with beard and moustache, wearing a ruff ; )ut his neck, and frills at his wrists. His hands ■ joined in prayer, and he is turned towards the i mption. ie wears a tunic with a sash or belt tied in a y >n front. Over this he wears a heavy cloak, a article of dress common in Elizabeth’s reign. l la s a broad fur collar and facings, and false or h ging sleeves. Though open at the top, it is closed lower I 244 MONUMENTAL BE ASSES. down, so as to hide the wearer’s legs. The dte 1586 is engraved above the figure, the numtrs 15 being on the left, and 86 on the right of is head. There is also, adjoining the figure ( a device which appears to be a merchant’s mad consisting of the initials T. B. with the figures 2. The meaning of these numbers is not apparent The inscription reads as follows : — “In God the lord put all your truste, Repente your former wicked waies Elizabethe our quene moste juste Blesse her o lorde in all her daies So lord encrease good councelers And preachers of his holie worde Mislike off all papistes desiers O lord cut them off with sworde. How small soever the gifte shallbe Thanke God for him who gave it ,thee xii penie loaves to xii poore foulkes Geve everie sabothe day for aye.” The initial letters of these lines, read backwals, spell the name Thomas Beri. It is believed that Thomas Beri was a nativ Walton, and he is said to have been baptisec the parish church there. He afterwards wen London, and prospered there, becoming a and fishmonger, and, it is thought, a membe the Common Council. He left money fo cit e of in to n of a — THOMAS BERI. 247 remembrance of himself to be made in brass, and placed in the parish church of Walton. His last will was proved Jan. 15, 1608. His religious views are indicated with considerable force in the epitaph already quoted. ! In the church of S. Mary Magdalen, Fish Street Hill, London, is (or rather was) a duplicate of this brass, the only difference consisting in some of the letters being differently shaped, and some of the words differently spelt. S. Mary Magdalen’s was one of the city churches which was burnt in the Great Fire, and was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren. ( Maitland' s ; “ History of London;" Timbs “ Cztriosities of London." ) The London counterpart of the brass is kept at the clerk’s house, and is to be set up shortly in St. Martin’s, Ludgate. It is probable that these brasses were executed, and perhaps set up, before Bed’s death, notwithstanding the above tradition of his having left money for his posthumous commemoration. In Maitland’s “ London,” among the annual 1 donations attached to S. Mary Magdalen’s church, occurs the following: — “1601. By Thomas Berrey, ^28,” which looks as if he were living as 248 MONUMENTAL TRASSES. late as 1601, and the date of proof of his w|l seems to place this beyond doubt. He seems at the same time to have establish)! a charity in his native village, for among tp charities attached to Walton Church, as given 1 Baines’ “Lancashire,” occurs the following:- “Walton and Bootle, 1601. Berry’s charity Ret charge of 54s. for bread. The property (1 London) having increased in value, yields pr annum ^4. 10s.” Thomas Beri was cousin to Robert Berl, alderman of Liverpool, a brother to Richard Bee of Bootle. Mr. F. Musker, of Walton, who has kino.' searched the books of Walton Parish Churd, reports that “there is not a single enr concerning him in either the registers or tp churchwarden’s vestry-book.” The practice of putting up brasses to the salt person in different churches was by no meas uncommon, and in some cases even two brass s to the same person are found in the same churcj. ( Oxford Manual of Brasses, pp. xvii. to xix.). flbples 2)ofcMng, Esquire, aitfc fIDargaret, bis Wife. i fillies Bobbing, Esquire, anb flDarqaret, bis lUit'c. HE brass engraved upon page 253 is a very good specimen of the Elizabethan and Jacobean period. It is in good preservation ; the figures are boldly and firmly drawn, and the lines clearly cut. It belongs to that stage when the idea of a recumbent effigy had given place to that of an upright figure, intended very often, as in the present instance, to occupy a position upon the wall, and not upon the floor of the church. The brass of Myles Dodding belongs to that transpontine portion of Lancashire which embraces the fell country of Furness, and which geographi- cally seems more properly to belong, as in early times it did politically, to the adjacent county of Westmorland. It forms part of a marble monument upon the south wall of the Braddyll Chapel, at the east end of the southern aisle of St. Mary’s Parish Church at Ulverston. A.D. 1606. Ulverston , Lancashire. 252 MONUMENTAL EE ASSES. Myles Dodding wears his peaked beard and ruff, his doublet, puffed breeches, and trunk-hose, and over all, his fur-trimmed cloak with hanging sleeves, with all the grace of a well-born, well- favoured man, whose natural parts are well qualified to set off the handsome dress of the day. His wife, too, with her coif, ruff, embroid- ered bodice, and capacious skirts, makes far from an ungraceful figure ; and the pair are well worthy of the skill which the artist has bestowed upon them. What strikes one as most unusual is the pedestal or rounded base upon which they stand ; oddly enough recalling the scriptural and amphi- bious personages so dear and familiar to us in our nursery days. Beneath the figures is the following inscription, engraved in capital letters : — “Here before lyeth buried the bodies of Myles Dodding Esq : & Margaret his wife, who died in the yeare of o r Lord 1606, after they had lived maried 43 yeares and had issue tenne children, of whom there only survived them Myles Dodding & Henrye.” Miles Dodding was the owner of the old dissolved Priory of Conishead, or rather of a half of it, for having married a co-heiress, he acquired, MYLES DODD IN G AND WIFE. 255 jure icxoris , a moiety of the estate, a consequence of our laws of inheritance of which we have already noticed an instance in the case of Sir Robert del Bothe and his Cheshire property. The manor and site of Conishead Priory had ' been purchased in the second year of King Edward s VI., by William Sandys of Colton Hall in Furness, 1 but resident after his purchase at the Priory. By I his first wife, Mabel, he had two daughters, Margaret and Barbara. By his second wife, ! Agnes, he had a son and heir, Francis Sandys. By his will he devised his estates to his son, with remainder to his daughters. He died in 1558 . Francis dying in 1583 without issue, the Conishead estate passed to his half-sisters as co-parceners. Margaret was married to Myles Dodding, son and heir of William Dodding of Kendal, but resident in London. Barbara was married to Myles Philipson of Crook, in Westmorland. Myles and Barbara Philipson were the first to :ake up their abode at Conishead Priory. Of their I wo sons, Christopher and Robert, the former in- herited his mother’s moiety of Conishead, and n ade it his home. He married Bridget, daughter 25 6 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. of George Kirby, and died in 1600, leaving a; infant heir named Myles. His widow marrie< again, and went to reside at Heversham. Myle Dodding and his wife having left London, no\ came to Conishead Priory, and here the remainde of their lives was spent. The brief record upoi their monument which tells how, of their famil of ten, two children alone survived them, is onl another testimony to the well-known fact th? until comparatively recent times it was commo for at least half a family to die in infancy. Th Ulverston Parish Registers record the burial c Margaret Dodding on the 24th December, 1606 and that of Myles, her husband, a month later, o the 27th January 1606-7. Their son, Myles Dodding, lived at Conishea Priory, and married Ursula, daughter c Christopher Deyville, by whom he had a sor George, and two daughters. He died in 1629, and is commemorated i Ulverston Church by a mural monument, cor sisting of a recumbent effigy in armour beneat a marble canopy, and bearing a Latin inscription His son, George Dodding, purchased fc ^1200 the interest of the Philipsons in the sit and manor of Conishead Priory. He marrie MYLES DO D DING AND WIFE. 257 Sarah, daughter of Rowland Backhouse, and had by her a son named Myles, and five daughters. He was a Colonel in the army of the Parliament, and took an active part in the civil war. He was among those captured by the Earl of Derby while inspecting the Spanish ship which had gone ashore in the Wyre. He died in 1650, his widow surviving him twenty-nine years. Myles Dodding, the third of that name, had several children, but all died without issue except a daughter, Sarah, whose marriage with John Braddyll of Portfield, transferred Conishead Priory and the adjacent estates to the Braddyll family. For the above facts, as also for the loan of a rubbing of the brass, the writer is indebted to the courtesy of the Rev. L. R. Ayre, Vicar of Ulverston. IRtcbarb Hssbeton, Esquire, anb flbarp, bis Wife. IRicbarb Hssbeton, Esquire, anb flDarp, bis Wife. A.D. I 6 I 8. Middleton , Lancashire. U PON a flat slab at the north side of the chancel of St. Leonard’s Church, Middleton, at the foot of the altar, are the figures in brass of Richard Assheton, Esquire, and his wife Mary. He is attired in Elizabethan or Jacobean style, and wears peaked beard and moustaches. His appearance is that of a man in the prime of life, and accords with the statement in his epitaph that he died in his forty-first year. Round his neck he wears a capacious ruff. He has a belted tunic, knee-breeches, and shoes, and over all a heavy cloak with hanging sleeves, very similar to those seen in the brasses of Thomas Beri and Thomas Coveil. His left hand rests upon his breast, while his right holds a grim memento of man’s mortality, in the shape of a skull. Perhaps this typifies his early death. He holds it in a manner suggestive of one about to 262 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. play at bowls. His wife Mary wears a high- crowned and wide-brimmed hat, and a large ruff. She wears a plain skirt and loose bodice tied at the waist, and over these a long cloak without sleeves. Her hands are joined in prayer. Beneath these figures is this inscription, in capital letters : — “ Hie Iacet Richardus Assheton Armiger, Dominus de Middleton, pietatis prudentiae et eruditionis nomine clarus cui uxur Maria filia Thoma Venables Baronis de Kinderton nati sex Richardus, Rodolphus, Ioannes, Jacobus, Guilielmus, Thomas, duaq filiae Dorithea& Maria. Obiit 7 Novemb. Anni 1618 yEtatis suae 41 currente.” (“ Here lies Richard Assheton, Esquire, Lord of Middleton, distinguished for his piety, prudence, and learning, whose wife was Mary, daughter of Thomas Venables, Baron of Kinderton, and whose sons were six, Richard, Ralph, John, James, William, Thomas, and daughters two, Dorithea and Mary. He died 7th November, in the year 1618, in his 41st >>\ year. ) Below Richard Assheton’s figure, on a square brass plate, are the effigies of five sons, wearing cloaks, knee-breeches, and wide collars, and a RICHARD ASSHETON AND WIFE. 265 child in swaddling-clothes. Beneath the wife’s figure, on a similar plate, are seen the two daughters, in farthingales and ruffs. Near the head of the slab are two shields, that on the dexter side bearing the arms of Assheton of Middleton. Richard Assheton was eldest son and heir to Sir Richard Assheton, who was several times Sheriff of Lancashire, who married Mary, daughter of Sir John Byron, of Clayton, and who was knighted at the coronation of James I., and died only a year before his son. During his lather’s lifetime Richard lived at Mostyn Hall, near Manchester, and Blackley Hall, near Middleton. His wife Mary is described as “a i lady of exemplary piety and of great domestic virtue.” Her effigy, as a child, is given in the brass to her mother, Elizabeth Venables — a small quadrangular mural plate in the church at Middle- wich, Cheshire. In the most interesting “Journal” of Nicholas Assheton of Downham, written in 1617 and 1618, and which in parts strongly reminds us of the j immortal Diary of Pepys, mention is made of both lather and son. Under date of 1617, Dec. 26, we read, “ Word came that Sir Ric. Assheton was 266 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. verie dangerously sicke. Dec. 27, St. John Day. I with my Cooz. Assheton to Middleto. Sir Ric. had left his speche and did not knowe. man. . . . He depted verie calmly ab‘ eig at night. No extraordinary sorrow, ’cause h death was soe apparent in his sickness.” His son Richard (whose brass is before u seems to have shown somewhat undue haste 1 assume his inheritance, for we read on the sarr day, “ Presently upon his death ther wa enquiring after his Will, which was shewed bl Mr. John Greenhalgh of Brandlesome and S Ric s second son Ralph Assheton who with m lady were Exors, and Cooz. Assheton of Whalle Supervisor. My now Cooz. Assheton of Middle ton, Ric., began to demand the keyes of the gatd and of the studie for the evidence, and to call for tin plate, uppon cause his brother John had som< part in them. Ther were some likeness 0 present falling out of him and the exors, whicl certainly had bene, had not my Cooz. Assheton 0 Whalley soe ... as was litel or noe discord The reason was former unkindness between Sii Ric. and his sonn, to which Sir Ric. was movec by my lady and thos that were of her faccon : but nowe all well, praysed be God, which I praye RICHARD ASSHETON AND WIFE. 267 od to continue. . . . Dec 29. Exors, Heir, id iny Cooz. Assheton in the studie all daye and er well all things sett straight.” In the following year the Journalist had to cord the death of the new lord of Middleton. “1618 Nov. 7. This day my Cooz. Assheton Middleton dyed.” Richard Assheton’s will is dated in June of the same year. Sctb Busbell. Setb Busbell. A. I). 1623. Preston , Lancashire. I T is not to every brass-collector that the effigy of Seth Bushell, figured upon page 2 73, fill appeal. Those to whom the beauty and artistic merit of he mediaeval brass is its predominant charm, will iass hastily by, or even, it may be, turn aside jvith something akin to disgust, from the rude imilacrum, or rather travesty — as it seems to hem — of honest Seth Bushell, citizen, in days one by, of Preston town. Such was certainly our first impulse. So rotesquely rough and uncouth did this graven ab of brass appear, — suggestive almost of the >ck drawings of a Bushman, or the luxuriant ncies of Edwin Lear, — so totally devoid of all ose elements into which Burke has resolved the sence of beauty : venerable, it is true, to the tent of some two-and-a-half centuries, yet not 1 enough for its rudeness to be the sign and 2J2 MONUMENTAL EE ASSES. 1 - jr a outcome of its time, — a perplexing anachronic with no good quality to redeem it. So we said in our haste. But quiet reflecti fortified largely, it must be admitted, by the ger protests and reasoning of friends, altered tis frame of mind : with the result that the Bus! brass was re-examined, pondered upon, and vested with strange attractions, never seen till thn. Where all is unknown, each may theorise himself. To us it has seemed that this effigy tribute, honest and genuine, to a good in wrought by hands which had perhaps grip id his ; and inspired — not by genius — but (some say, by a better thing), by love. But in this book, theory is not our province To the least critical it must be plain that brass is the work of a “ prentice-hand." Shoulders, the worthy “ bay 1 iff and brotherof Preston,” has none. We have to be content vth a sort of horizon of shirt-collar and gown-qp. He wears moustache and beard. Expression may not look for : it suffices that the uc features are duly denoted. He wears what ny be a civic gown, of a cut common in the day Elizabeth and King James, possibly trimmed fur. le 1623. SETH BUSHELL. Preston. Lancashire. T SETH BU SHELL. 275 His hands, which seem to sprout through their sleeves from the region of his waist, are held upright, with open palms and extended fingers. His feet are scarcely worth mentioning. The whole figure is wrought upon an oblong quadrangular plate of brass, very rough, and somewhat mutilated. Perhaps the most interesting part of Seth Bushell’s monument is a second quadrangular plate, upon which is the following inscription in Roman letters, — a simple memorial, but one by the light of which the figure of the dead man should be contemplated. “Here lyeth interd Seath Bushell, Woollen Draper, Baylife and a Brother of Preston, dying the XV of Sep r 1623, aged 53. Gave unto his kinesfoolkes and godchildren in legacies VI C £ : also XX £ to the Poore of this Towne for ever, the use to be given the said Poore by the Maior or his Deputie at Christ 5 & Easter : 4 £ to the Poore of Leeland & Walton : al out of his ■ charitable minde.” Seth would seem to have been a family name, for among the vicars of Preston, shortly before 1677, we meet with a Seth Bushell, d.d., and in 1682 a Seth Bushell was also vicar of Lancaster, 2 76 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. (Baines “ Lancashire," Revised Ed., Vol. II., pp. 57 and 456.) Up to the year 1854 these brasses were in the? Parish Church at Preston, but during its restoration they were stolen, and sold for about 8^d. each. They are now in the possession of Mr. T. Harrison Myres, whose intention it is to restore! them to their original position. The accompanying illustration is from a rubbing kindly made for the writer by Mr. Myres. A good engraving of the brass, from a drawing by Mr. Myres, may be seen in Mr. Tom C. Smith’s “ Records of the Parish Church at Preston,” and a copy from it accompanies a review: of that work in “The Antiquary” for June, 1892 (p. 249). £bomas Covell, Esquire. Gbomas Covell, lEsquire. A.D. 1639. St. Mary s Church , Lancaster. HE portion of this brass which contains the figure of the departed has become loose from the stone, but it is hoped that it may ere long be restored to its proper position. The epitaph, however, upon another brass plate, still remains in the middle of the nave of the old parish church of St. Mary, at Lancaster. The figure of Thomas Covell, Esquire, has been broken across the middle, and a good deal worn by passing feet, insomuch that the features, except the eyes, have become obliterated. For the sake of preserving the general effect, they have been restored in the accompanying engrav- ing. The remains of a peaked beard are still visible, and from these premises it required little originality to sketch in the moustache and linea- ments. Thomas Coveil wears a wide ruff, a closely buttoned tunic, breeches, and jack boots reach- 28o MONUMENTAL BRASSES. ing to the knee. Over all is a large and heavy fur-edged cloak, with high puffed shoulders, and long false sleeves. His hands are joined in prayer, and he is represented as standing upon a pavement of chequered flags or tiles. The inscription beneath the effigy is as follows : — “ Here lyeth interred y e body of Thomas Covell Esq. 6 tymes Maior of this Towne, 48 yeares keeper of this Castle, 46 yeares one of y e coroners of y e County Palatine of Lancaster, Captaine of y e Freehold Band of this Hundred of Loinsdall on this side of y e Sands, & Justice of Peace & Ouoru throughout this said County Palatine of Lancaster, who dyed y e 1 of August, 1639, aetatis sitae, 78. “ Cease, cease to mourne, all teares are vaine and voide : Hee’s fledd, not dead ; dissolved, not destroy’d. In Heaven his soule doth rest, his bodie heere Sleepes in this dust, and his fame everie where Triumphs ; the towne, the country farther forth, The land throughout proclaimes his noble worth. Speake of a man soe kinde, soe courteous, So free and every waie magnanimous, That storie told at large heere doe you see, Epitomiz’d in briefe : Covell was hee.” A very notable person this Covell appears to have been. “ Clothed in a little brief authority,” as Mayor, Custodian of Lancaster Castle, etc., THOMAS COVELL, ESQUIRE. 281 he naturally must have made some figure in his time in the chief town of the County Palatine ; but from what we can learn of the personality of the man, there must also have been much of sterling worth and honest geniality in his diaracter, which went some way towards justify- ng the encomiastic epitaph just quoted. In a very interesting paper, entitled “A Lan- caster Worthy,” contributed by Mr. William dewitson to “Bygone Lancashire” ( edited by Ernest Axon. William Andrews and Co., thill, '892), a sketch of Covell’s biography is presented, rom which most of the following particulars have >een taken. It would seem that when Coveil was Governor 1 Lancaster Castle, his brother kept the 'George Inn” hard by. Partly owing, perhaps, ) this circumstance, he seems to have exercised very generous hospitality towards the strangers I -and they were many — who visited Lancaster om time to time. We find repeated testimony this. John Taylor, the “Water Poet” of ■mes I.’s reign, in his “ Pennyless Pilgrimage ” mi London to Edinburgh, tasted of Thomas well’s good cheer while sojourning at Lan- : ster. 282 MONUMENTAL EE ASSES. He facetiously speaks of Coveil, to whose good offices he was consigned by his friend, the Under-Sheriff of Lancashire, as the “ Iaylor.” “The Iaylor kept an Inne, good beds, good cheere, Where paying nothing, I found nothing deere : For the under Shriefe, kind Master Couill nam’d (A man for house-keeping renown’d and fam’d), Did cause the Towne of Lancaster afford Me welcome as if I had beene a Lord. And ’tis reported that for daily bounty His mate can scarce be found in all that county. Th’ extremes of rnizer, or of prodigall, He shuns, and hues discreet and liberall ; His wiue’s minde and his owne are one, so fixt That Argus’ eyes could see no oddes betwixt, And sure, the difference (if there difference be) Is who shall doe most good, or he or shee. Poor folks report that for relieuing them He and his wife are each of them a Jem ; At th’ Inne and at his house two nights I staide, And what was to be paid, I know he paide ; If nothing Oi their kindnesse I had wrote, Ingratefull me the world might justly note : Had I declar’d all I did heare or see, For a great flatt’rer then I deem’d should be : Him and his wife, and modest daughter Besse, With Earth and Heau’n’s felicity, God blesse. Two dayes a man of his, at his command, Did guide me to the midst of Westmerland, And my Conductor, with a liberall fist, To keepe me moist, scarce any alehouse mist.” We have in these lines the warm gratitude ol a THOMAS CO V ELL, ESQUIRE. 285 wayfarer to one who had taken him in, and treated him well when a stranger in a strange land. Richard Brathwaite, author of “ Barnaby’s Journal,” sounds the same note : — “ For a Jaylor ripe and mellow, The world hath not such a fellow.” ( i i : ; In 1634, three officers sojourning at the “George,” state that “our host was the better acquainted with the affayres of the shire, for that his brother was both a justice of the peace and a chiefe gaoler there, by vertue whereof wee had some commaund of the Castle, w’ch is the honr and grace of the whole towne.” The “gaoler” incurred the displeasure of the Bishop of Chester for too great leniency towards his prisoners : the prelate mentions a report that “the recusants there have liberty to go when and whither they list ; to hunt, hawk, and go to horse races at their leisure ; which notorious abuse of law and justice should speedily be reformed.” We can scarcely love the gaoler the less for this tenderness towards the “recusants.” Burton, the Puritan, however, had no such 'complaint to offer. During his short imprison- ment at Lancaster, whither he had come with his 286 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. ears cropped like his fellow-sufferers, Prvnn and Bastwick, he found his janitor a “ beastl man,” and seems to have had more than on passage of arms with him. The sour, if sincere and courageous, piety ( the Puritan did not accord with the temperamer of the “jaylor ripe and mellow.” On Burton arrival, the Governor, “sitting in John of Gaunt old chaire, fell to speak his pleasure of me, and t censure me for what I had done : to whom said, ‘ Sir, it is your office to be my gaoler, nc my judge ?’ ” Covell’s reply, if he had one ready — and wi can hardly doubt it — is not recorded. Some interesting references to Thomas Cove o are to be found in the ffarington Papers ( Cha Soc. Pub., Vo/, jg, 1856). These contain a copy of an agreement, date 4th March, 1635, made between Covell an William ffarington, Esq., Sheriff of Lancashire under which the former was “ upon his own cos and chardge to p’vyde dyett, lodgeinge, an horse-meate for the Judges, their followers an seruants at the next Assyses,” and also to mak similar provision for the Sheriff and his following The Sheriff seems to have had rather an uncom : ■it S S' THOMAS COVELL, ESQUIRE. 287 fortable time with the Justices of Assize, who, on one pretext or another, mulcted him in some heavy fines. For his greater security, the Sheriff thought fit to enter into a bond with the keeper of the Castle, whereby the latter indemnified him from liability in case of escapes of prisoners, etc. The condition of the bond provides, among other things, “that the said Thomas Covell his | Deputye or Assignee shall not unlawfullie dis- charge or set at libtie any prysoner or prysoners , taken, delivered, committed, or lefte in the | custodie of the said Thomas Covell without the speciall warrante in writinge under the hand and seale of the officer of the said Sheriffe in y £ behalfe first hadd and obtained.” A curious specimen of “ Counsel’s Opinion ” is ‘contained in a letter, dated Knowsley, 7th August, 1637, from Edward Holte, whom the Sheriff had consulted upon the framing of this condition, and who seems to have thought that, 7 x abimdante ccuitela, the clause should have been irafted in wider and more general terms. Mr. Hewitson gives some particulars of the lumerous executions which took place during Novell’s term of office. The dismal list includes he execution of thirty-one persons “as the 288 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. outcome of three assizes alone !” A great numbe of the unhappy “ Lancashire Witches ” were confined in the Castle, and ultimately met theii cruel fate during this period. Covell’s daughter, “ Besse," married Johi Brockholes, of Heaton and Claughton. “ The two children born of this marriage died in 1654 (about twelve years after their father), and were buried at Garstang Parish Church." The wifei who, as Taylor relates, had such a gentle emulation in good doing with her husband survived him by one year only. “ Covell’s inventory amounted to ,£3,047 7s. 3d.’ Mr. Hewitson’s article is illustrated by a smal engraving of Covell’s brass, which, however represents the lines of the effigy as even more effaced than, on a close inspection, we think the\ will be found to be. iRalpb Hssbeton, jgsquirc, anb ]£li3abetb, bis Mife. IRalpb Hssbeton, Esquire, anb Eli3abetb, bis Wife. A.D. 1650. Middleton , Lancashire. L IKE the other brasses in this church, Ralph Assheton’s lies in the chancel, before the j altar. The figure of the husband, upon a square plate \ of brass is on the (spectator’s) right hand of the j stone slab, and that of his wife upon the left — a : departure from the almost invariable rule. As commander of the Parliamentary forces in . Lancashire, Ralph Assheton holds in his right 'and a field-marshal’s baton ; his left rests upon is hip ; his right foot is slightly advanced, and Be stands in a dignified and commanding posture, t ith his head erect, and turned somewhat toward ■ . I is right hand. This is a most interesting brass, bt only on account of the celebrity of the person horn it represents, but also for its intrinsic I • ! erits. ■ Considering its late date, it is remarkably bold 292 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. and spirited in design, and is besides well and neatly cut. The Major-General is represented as a somewhat broad and full-faced man ; his hair is moderately short— a compromise between the! crop-eared cut of the typical Puritan, and the unlovely love-locks of the Cavalier. The smal moustachios, brushed upward, and the imperia beard are characteristic of the time. Round hi throat, appearing above his armour, is a plair linen collar tied with a small tassel or bow He is completely cased in plate armour. Th tuilettes, or leg-guards, the development oj which we noticed in the brass of Sir Willianj Molyneux, have become longer still, and read from the hips to below the knee, till they arl hidden by the wide-topped boots (upon which an spurs). A scarf is tied round his left arm, abov the elbow, and hangs in graceful folds. Hi sword hangs by a narrow sword-belt on his le side. His hands are bare. He stands upon mound beneath an arch supported by pillars. Dame Margaret, who stands beneath a simil arch, wears a cap, and a long veil or hood, whic descends to the g-ound, and a dress with a sti and pointed bodice. Her right hand is raised, and her left holds u ster RALPH AS SHE TON AND WIFE. 2 93 m cloak. A small portion at the right lower >rner of this brass has been broken off. Beneath these two figures is the following iscription in capital letters : — j “ Memoriae Sacrum Radulphi Assheton, (rmigeri, Domini de Middleton, pii in Deum, itriam, et suos, copiarum omnium in agro Lan- striensi (Supremi Senatus auctoritate) conscrip- •um) praefecti fortis et fidelis, qui cum e conjuge : a Elizabetha (filia Johannis Kaye de Woodsome ijagro Eboracensi armigeri) suscepisset filios tres, jcardum, Radulphum, Johannem, totidemque lias, Elizabetham, Mariam, Annam, obdormivit i'Jesu 1 7 0 Feb r 1650 aetatis suae, 45 currente.” “Sacred to the memory of Ralph Assheton, l! quire, Lord of Middleton, pious toward God, l'l country, and his family, a brave and faithful c : inlander of all the forces in the County of L i caster (levied by the authority of the F liament) who, having with his wife Elizabeth (c 1 lighter of John Kaye, Esquire, of Woodsome, it :he county of York) had three sons, Richard, R ph, and John, and the same number of (fighters, Elizabeth, Mary, and Anne, fell asleep it esus, 17th February, 1650 in his 45th year.”) it the foot of the slab are two small 294 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. quadrangular plates of brass, that under th husband containing the figures of the three so above mentioned ; the eldest is in full armo resembling his father’s, the second wears a Ion cloak, the third is an infant in swaddling-clothe The other represents the daughters, the two eld wearing the simple, graceful dress of that perio the elder daughter has a fan of feathers. T third daughter is an infant in swaddling-bands. Above the figures of Ralph Assheton and h wife are two shields. In Ralph Assheton of Middleton, we have o of Lancashire’s most prominent historic character a man who took the part of leader in Parliamentary interest in that county. One of the most substantial of the lande proprietors, belonging to one of the most ancie and honourable families in the shire, his adherent was welcomed by the Parliament ; and his zealot conduct and active and successful career durir the civil wars showed that his worth had not be overrated. As Major-General of the Lancashi forces, he plays no unimportant part in the histoi of his time, and is frequently alluded to in tl current news-letters and in the despatches Cromwell and others. He was son and heir RALPH ASS HR TON AND WILE. 295 Richard Assheton, Esq., by his wife, Mary, daughter of Thomas Venables, Baron of Kinderton in Cheshire (whose brasses have been •j already described), and was born about 1605. In | addition to his representation on his own monument, he also figures, in a quaint cloak and ruff, as one of the sons of Richard Assheton, on the small plate at the foot of the latter’s tomb. While yet a minor, in the year 1623, he married 1 Elizabeth, only daughter of John Kaye, of ' Woodsome, in the county of York, Esquire. The venerable Rector of Middleton, the Rev. Abdias Assheton, dying in 1633, left him the following legacy : — “ I give to my cosin and Patron, Raphe Assheton of Middleton, Esq., my oest jewell, my watch, or pockett clocke, given mto me by most honourable Lorde my Lorde of Essex, the morning before his death.” The I Earl of Essex was executed for treason 25th February, 1600, and Mr. Assheton had probably >een his chaplain. I Ralph Assheton studied for some time at the liar, — whether with the fixed purpose of making it •< j is profession, or merely as being the valuable and ecessary adjunct to the character of landed gentle- lan, so warmly insisted upon by Blackstone in a 296 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. later age, we do not know. He was made Bencher of Gray’s Inn on the 13th August 163c He sat as Member for Lancashire in the Parlia ment which met on 3rd November, 1640, and wa among the number of those appointed deputy lieutenants for the county by the Parliament, twj years later, in opposition to the nominees of th Crown. Seacombe (who, needless to say, viewer things from a Royalist stand-point) says that- h was one of those who took the bait of proffere' dignity and command thrown out by the Parlia ment at the commencement of the war. Hi energy and promptitude quickly showed them selves, and by his means a quantity of powde and match, stored in Manchester by Lord Strang (afterwards Earl of Derby) was seized an secured for the Parliament. In conjunction wit John Moore and Alexander Rigby, two of hi most constant auxiliaries, he signed, at th commencement of the war, a letter addresse “To the honourable William Lenthall, Esquin Speaker of the House of Commons,” giving report of the position and proceedings of th factions at Manchester. At the brave defence c that town against the king’s troops, Assheton Middleton tenants made themselves conspicuou RALPH ASSHETON AND WIFE. 297 by their gallantry, and when some of the townsfolk were for a surrender, they stoutly refused, “ by a general shout declaring that they I would part with their arms and their lives together.” ( Chet. Soc. Pub., Lancashire Civil War Tracts, 1844, page 333.) In October, 1642, he was put upon the Commission of the Peace for Lancashire. In the Journals of the House of Commons, vol. ii. , p. 833, we find it “ Ordered that Ralph Ashton Esquire shall have Mr. Speaker’s warrant for the conveying down four small brass pieces to Manchester, without lett or interruption, and likewise one small brass piece for the safetie of his own house.” All through the war, hither and thither he marched, beating up recruits and enlisting levies, skirmishing, pursuing, retreating, taking towns and castles, or being besieged in them, ever moving, and almost ubiquitous, the Lancashire squire made his name both loved and feared throughout the county. He was in command during the first siege of Bolton by King Charles’s forces, and it was he who, a little later, relieved the town of Lancaster. In 1643, on the 1st of April, he was appointed 298 MONUMENTAL BE ASSES. one of the Committee of Sequestrators for Lancashire. The duties of a Sequestrator demanded a stern disregard of all ties of friendship or kindred. A letter from Ralph Assheton to his relative, Mrs. Margaret ffarington, whose husband was a “ delinquent,” illustrates this in strong colours. It is given among the ffarington Papers ( Chet. Soc. Pub., Vol. jg), and is as follows : — “ Cosen, Itt is true y l I heare that the goodes in y r husband’s howse and demayne are allotted towards the satisfaction of my souldiers, but if you please yo u may buy them in at an easie rate as I suppose, and for which there is direction given. Yett if yo u bee wilfull and will not buy them, the souldiers willbee constrayned to take them awaye, w ch neyther I nor they desyre to doe, if soe be it could bee other wayes contriued. Y r owne wilfulnes maye doe you harme, and then blame y r selves, not us. The heyre loomes yo u mention I did see a note of, and acquainted y e other Deputy Lieutenants therew th , but I know noe waye to saue them but by compoundinge for all, and y £ beinge done, you shall have a note under as many of o r hands as you please for the securinge of soe much as yee buy. And were RALPH ASSHETON AND WIFE. 299 yee never soe near or deare to mee (the case consydered) I could not giue yee better council y n to compound for y r estate. For manetainance of y r self y e Ordinance gives waye to allow a proportion, w ch I shall for my part bee ready to doe, but Collonell Shuttleworth and Collonell Rigby are to join in y r Hundred, wherefore yee must make y r address also to them, and I shall consent to what they shall doe. But what you doe, doe quickly, for y e Souldiers will not be content w th any clelaye. For y e defacinge of y r or any bodys howse I shalbee (as I have always beene) uery unwillinge of, and shall not only send such as I think will not doe it, but give speciall command to forbidd it. And soe w th returne of my mothers and wifes respects to you, I rest 29 October Y r very lovinge Cosen, 1643. Ralph Assheton. I had purposed to haue written to y r sonne, but the Messenger is in such hast as y‘ I desire yo u will acquaint him with this letter, w ch is an answear to his alsoe. There is a report that since y e consigninge of y r husband’s goods to the souldiers there is some conveyed away. If it bee soe, I am afraid they wilbee revenged upon y r howse. Wherefore I 300 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. advise yo u by all meanes yee deale truely and ingenuously herein, and if any bee gone, send for them back agayne, for they have an Inventorey, and will expect to fynd all y* is therein exprest. For my respected Cosen Mris farington of Worden these present.” In the same year Col. Assheton defeated Lord Derby at Whalley. It will be interesting for a moment to glance at Vicar’s Chronicle (pt. 1, p. 321), May, 1643, which gives us an account of the transaction, drawn with all the vivid freshness of a contemporary pen. “ Certain intelligence came again out of Lancashire that the noble and renowned Manchesterians, under the command of Collonel Ashton, with about 22 hundred horse and foot, marched towards Wiggon, where Collonel Tilsley commanded for the Earl of Derbie with 9 troops of horse and 700 foot. But when brave and victorious Collonel Ashton appeared before the town, the enemies were immediately smitten with astonishment of heart, durst not stand to it, but fled away from thence to Latham, leaving Wiggon to their possession, whereupon the noble Collonel demolisht all the outworks and ELIZABETH ASSHETON. Middleton , Lancashire. RALPH ASSHETON, ESQUIRE. Middleton Lancashire. RALPH ASSHETON AND WIFE. 305 fortifications, burnt the new gates and posts that had been set up, took an oath of the townsmen never to bear arms against the king and parliament, and then this brave Collonel pursued the enemie in their flight to Latham.” From Fathom to Prescot, then back to Lathom, thence to Preston, from there to Hornby Castle and the North, the prosperous “ Collonel ” drove his foes like flying sheep. “ The Earl of Derby shortly after sent Collonel Ashton to desire him not to fire his house at Latham, promising him ^300 if he would spare it. But the noble Collonel sent him word that he scorned his money or the firing of his house and desired nothing more of him than to meet with him and to give him battell, but he, as I said, ran quite away out of the countie and durst not stay to accept that motion.” Such is the honest Puritan’s version of these passages, the poor Earl cutting a sorry figure enough, while “ brave and victorious Collonel Ashton ” chases him to and fro, and has things all his own way. In a moment we will turn to a piece of Royalist literature in which the other side breathes forth its counterblast of hatred, scorn, and satire against the rebel Colonel and his party. More successes were in store for him, however. X 306 . MONUMENTAL BRASSES. Liverpool, Hornby Castle, and Thurland Castle gave way before him. In January 1644 he suffered a reverse near Middlewich at the hands of Byron, the Royalist, but, a little later, assisted Fairfax in relieving Nantwich. The story of the “ Leaguer of Lathom ” is not a bright episode in the Roundhead record. The courteous and chivalrous Sir Thomas Fairfax felt much repugnance towards besieging the brave woman, who, with other kindred characters, by their nobility of purpose and conduct, shed such a bright halo over the Royalist cause. He soon let the unpleasant duty devolve upon the shoulders of Col. Assheton and others. In the “ Briefe Journall of the seige against Lathom,” from the pen of one of the beleaggred defenders, we read that “ On Saturday the 24th of February, (1643-4) it was resolved in a councill of the Holy state att Manchester, after many former debates and consultations to the same purpose, that Mr. Ashton of Middleton, Mr Moore of Banck Hall, and Mr. Rigby of Preston (3 Parliam 1 Colonells) should with all speed come agst Lathom, of which her La p had some broken intelligence.” Several days were occupied with the negotiations. First Sir Thomas Fairfax sent RALPH ASS PE TOJV A HE WIPE. 3°7 a letter, and with it an Ordinance of Parliament requiring the Countess of Derby (her husband being then away) to yield up Lathom House to the Parliament upon honourable terms. Her Ladyship, by way of temporising, demanded a week’s time to consider ; but this was of course refused. Further negotiations passed, and “on Saturday Mr. Ashton and Mr. Rigby vouchsafed to venture their p’sons into Latham House, being authorized by the Generali to propound the following condic’ons. These condic’ons her La p rejected. ... The two colonells being blancke I in their treaty, spent their stay in wise instructions ' to her La p , and unjust accusations of her friends and servants, which shee not only cleared, but nobly and sharply returned upon their religious L agents, soe that the grave men, being disappointed I both of their witt and malice, returned as empty as they came. On Monday, Mr. Ashton came agayne alone with power to receive her La ps propositions and convey them to his Generali.” Of course the negotiations came to nothing, [ and Charjotte de la Tremouille delivered her famous ultimatum, “ That though a woman and a stranger, divorced from her friends and rob’d of her estate, she was ready to receive their utmost 3°8 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. violence, trusting in God both for protection and deliverance.” It seems a strange step (almost, so to speak, out of proportion to the importance of their im- mediate design, the capture of Lathom House) which the Colonel and hiscolleaomes decided to take, after a long and fruitless investment of the fortress. A general supplication for the Divine assistance was decreed. The caustic sallies of the satirical and indignant Royalist are worth noting. “Having hitherto,” he says, “met so un- prosperous successe in their holy worke, the two Collonells, Mr. Ashton and Mr. Moore, cast a shew of religion over their execrable work, and like those devout men in the poetts, by publike and private supplications call God to assist them in their merciless practizes, to which purpose they issue out com’andes to all their ministers for a general and humble imprecac’on in the following forme: ‘To all ministers and Parsons in Lanca- shire, well-wishers to our successe against Lathom House, theise — Forasmuch as more than ordinary obstrucc’ons have from the beginning of this p’sent service ag c Lathom House interposed our proceedings and yet still remaine, which cannot otherwise be removed nor our successe I Lat K, a; 'Ad RALPH ASSHETON AND WIFE. 3°9 furthered but onely by divine assistance, it is therefore our desires to the Ministers and other well affected persons of this county of Lancaster, in publike manner as they shall please, to com’end our case to God, that as wee are appoynted to the s d imployment soe much tending to the settleing of our p’sent peace in theise parts, soe the Almighty would crowne our weak endeavours with speedy successe in the said designe. Raph Ashton. John Moore.’ “ Ormskirk, Apr. 5, 1644.” Later in the course of the war, Assheton was appointed Commander-in-chief for Lancashire, and engaged the Duke of Hamilton, who met with a severe defeat. Col. Assheton s Lancashire regiment dis- tinguished itself once more before Preston. Referring to this contingent, Captain Hodgson, who was present at the engagement, says, “A serjeant belonging to them asked me where they should march. I shewed him the party he was to fight, and he, like a true-bred Englishman marched, and I caused the soldiers to follow him, which presently fell upon the enemy, and losing 310 MON UMENTA L BRA SSES. that wing, the whole army gave ground and fled. The Lancashire men were as stout men as were in the world, and as brave firemen.” ( Original Memoirs of the Great Civil War, published by Sir Walter Scott, 1806 , p. 118.) A little later Assheton took Appleby Castle. The contact of the army with the Scottish Presbyterians was by this time beginning to shew results which could not have been altogether pleasing to the English Parliamentary leaders. Assheton’s force of about 4000 men, when at Clithero, refused to disband, and ‘‘professed for the Covenant, and are encouraged by the Clergy.” They were with difficulty induced to disperse. At the close of the war, the Major-General was appointed one of a committee to collect and distribute contributions for the relief of the poor around Wigan and Ashton, many of whom had been reduced to beggary by the devastations of the war. He died 17th Feb., 1650, at the comparatively early age of 45. The register at Middleton Church shows that “ Ralphe Assheton of Middleton Esq. Major Generali was buried 25 February 1650.” “He never,” says Mr. Halley ( Lancashire ■ «! Jo - Ji tin RALPH ASS H ETON AND WIFE. 3 1 1 Puritanism and Nonconformity ) “spared his time, his health, his money, or his friends in defending the cause of constitutional liberty. His incessant and exhausting labours probably hastened his premature death.” Whitaker, in his “ History of Whalley,” gives some letters written by the Major-General to a friend, Alexander Norris, of Bolton. The first two are as follow “ 13 Maii, 1645. “ Here is litle newes but y l the King is goinge northward to rayse Chester seidge and recruite his armie y‘ is weak. “ I pray God to save o r country, and if the countrey will but ryse unanimously and join with S r Will. Brereton it may be done, for Lieuten 1 Gennerall Cromwell and Major Gennerall Browne follow him w th a great force, and if but a little interrupted will overtake him, and if the Scotch will doe anything for us, mee thinks wee should bee in good safety. The Lord direct all for his glory and for o r poore- nation. So prayeth y 1 ' loving freind, Raphe Assheton.” “ 6th Jun. 1648. “Mr. Norris, Since the taking of Leycester, the king 312 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. is marched to Harborough yesternight and Syr Thomas Fayrfax called of from the siege of Oxford, so y c I hope the king will not runn upp and downe the Kingdom as he has done, and have liberty to take townes. Though S r Thomas bee come from Oxford, yett Major Generali Browne is commanded to block it upp, and will be provyded of forces to doe it. I longe to hear how o r brethren of Scotland are. Y r loving friend, Raphe Assheton.” The third letter shows that the relations of the commander with his colleagues were not always entirely harmonious. “ 2nd Julii, 1645. “Mr. Norris, I rejoice to heare y* my son’s regiment doeth so well before Latham as is represented in y r letter. You seem much to desyre my comminge downe, but I see few others desyrous of it, and here it is represented y l Col. Holland and Col. Rigby are the men desyred by the countrey ; if y l be so y u shall not have mee to come amongst y u , for I will never joyne w th them agayne : nevertheless I will here doe the best service I cann for my countrey so y* ye doe show such respect to my sonn and his RALPH ASS H ETON AND WIFE. 3*3 officers ancl souldiers as may encourage them to continue in y e service. But if Stanley, Booth, Holcroft, Egerton, and such like must be applauded and chiefly observed, I will not stay her but send for my sonn to come to me, for I scorne v l hee shall receave orders from them. I am much displeased at y e commitm' of Col. Birch and Mr. Haryson because I know y' they are honnester and have done more faythefull service for the Parliam' then all the other y' did committ them. I heare the principall occasion of compl' ag‘ Col. Birch was his opposing the great laye (impost) for the leaguer of Latham, in which he did so well so much service for the countrey (for it was illegal both in matter and manner) y' I wonder the countrey doth not petition the Parliam' for the release of him and the commitm 1 of all them. Y r very lovinge frend Raphe Assheton.” The Major-General’s children have been •enumerated in the epitaph already quoted. One of his sons is said to have been bewitched to death. “One Utley was tried for bewitching Richard Assheton at the assizes at Lancaster. His guilt was proved and he was executed.” ( Lancashire Puritanism , etc., /., 28/.) 3 1 4 MONUMENTAL BRASSES. “ The male line of the Assheton family became extinct in 1766 by the death of Sir Ralph Assheton, Bart., without male issue, when Middleton Hall, together with the Manor of Middleton and other adjoining property, came into possession of Harbord Harbord of Gunton, in the county of Norfolk, Esq., afterwards created Baron Suffield of Suffield.” (Chet. Soc. Pub., “ Iter Lancas- t reuse." 1485.) Middleton Hall no longer exists ; it was demolished in 1845, and its site used for building factories upon. It was situated a little to the south of the church, and had capacious barns and outbuildings adjoining. “ It was an ancient structure erected at different periods, those parts built anterior to the time of Henry VIII. being of lath and plaster, and the recent and more substantial parts of stone.” Such is the account of the home of the Middleton Asshetons given by the Rev. Thomas Corser, in his notes to the “ Iter Lancastrense,” edited by him for the Chetham Society in 1845 ; in which volume also is an engraving of Ralph Assheton’s brass, reduced from an accurate tracing of an etching by Mr. Thomas Barritt, the Manchester antiquary, in 1 782 Xist of Subscribers. %\st of Subscribers. Alexander, Joseph J., 4, Southgate, Manchester. Alington, F. William, 18, Halbertstadt Mansions, 132, Charing Cross Road, London, W.C. Alsop, J. W. , 14, Castle Street, Liverpool. Amherst of Hackney, the Right Hon. Lord, Didlington Hall, Brandon, Norfolk (2 copies). Anderton, Mrs. Ince, Brooklands, Scarisbrick, Ormskirk. Andrews, William, f.r.h.s., Hull Literary Club. Armstrong, Thomas, Moorfield, Urmston, near Manchester. Ashton, R. , Free Public Library, Blackburn. Ashton, Rev. Thomas S., Canisius College, Buffalo, New York, U.S.A. Ashton, William, 1, Crompton Street, Wigan. Assheton, Ralph, Downham Hall, Clitheroe (4 copies). Ashworth, William, 5, Oak Street, Accrington. Atherton, Rev. William Bernard, b.a., Churcham, near Gloucester. Atkinson, Rev. Canon, Vicarage, Bolton. Atkinson, Rev. C. Chetwynd, M.A., Ashton-upon-Mersey, Cheshire. Ayre, Rev. L. R., Holy Trinity Vicarage, Ulverston. Bagnall, F. , Water Orton. Bagshaw, J. E. Burton, 2, Rock Park, Rock Ferry, Birkenhead. Baker, Frank, Vernon House, Canterbuiy. Balguy, Mrs., Weyhill, Andover, Hants. Banister, F. D. , c. E. , Stonehouse Park, Forest Road, Sussex. Banks, William, 1, Starkie Street, Preston. Bardell, Rev. R., 4, Canterbury Street, Liverpool. Barrow-in-Furness Free Public Library. Bartlett, William, Highfield House, Knotty Ash, Liverpool. Bates, Rev. E. , Wilmslow Rectory, Manchester. Beasley, Henry C. , Learn Cottage, Wavertree, near Liverpool. Beaumont, Rev. George, Gateacre, near Liverpool. Bell, Henry, Greenfield, West Kirby, Cheshire. Bellamy, C. H., 97, Bishop Street, Moss Side, Manchester. Betharn, Rev. C. J., M.A., Canon of Ely, Rural Dean of Lavenham, Brettenham Rectory, Bildeston, Suffolk. Bethell, W. , Rise Park, Hull. Beynon, Rev. F. W. , Alfriston Vicarage, Berwick, Sussex. Birch, Rev. C. G. R. , Brancaster Rectory, King's Lynn, Norfolk (2 copies). Blair, R. , South Shields. Bolton Subscription Library. Bramble, Lt.-Col. James R., f.s.a., Cleeve House, near Yatton, R.S.O. , Somerset. Brammall, J. H., Sale Hill House, Sheffield. Bridger, W. James, All Saint’s, Bloxham, Banbury. Bromley, James, The Homestead, Lathom, near Ormskirk. Brooking- Rowe, J., Castle Barbican, Plympton, South Devon. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 3i8 Brown, Rev. Alexander, 65, Regent Street, Cambridge. Brown, Arthur Henry, Brentwood, Essex. Brown, A. Theodore, The Nunnery, St. Michael’s Hamlet, near Liverpool. Browne, J., Chertsey House, Croydon. Bulwer, General W. Legh, Quebec House, East Dereham, Norfolk (2 copies). Cameron, John, 5, Fenwick Street, Liverpool. Caroe, Miss, Holmsdale, Blundellsands, Liverpool. Case, R. H., 60, Canning Street, Liverpool. Casteja, Count de, Scarisbrick Hall, Ormskirk, Lancashire (3 copies). Charlton, William, J.P., Egerton Bank, Fairfield, Manchester. Chisholm, J. M., M.D., Woolton, Liverpool. Clark, M., 1, Tunniclifife Street, Pownall Street, Macclesfield. Cokayne, A. E. , Bakewell, Derbyshire. Cokayne, George E. , College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C. Coleman, Abraham, Wootton Bassett, Swindon. Collier, Cams Vale, Davington, near Faversham, Kent. Collier, Edward, 1, Heather Bank, Moss Lane East, Manchester. Cooper, Thomas, Mossley House, Congleton. Cottam, Rev. S. E., M.A., Wightwick House, Higher Broughton, Manchester. Creeny, Rev. W. F. , m.a. , f. s.a., Norwich. Crompton, Miss A. J., Ash Croft, Wilmslow, Cheshire. Crompton, John W. , Rivington Hall, near Chorley, Lancashire. Cropper, W. Crosse, Colonel, Shaw Hill, Chorley, Lancashire. Cullum, G. Milner-Gibson, f.s.a., Hardwick House, Bury St. Edmunds. Dames, R. S. Longworth, 21, Herbert Street, Dublin. Davenport, George II., Foxley, Hereford. Davies, Peter, 6, Cook Street, Liverpool. Davis, Cecil T. , Public Library, Wandsworth, London, S.W. Dean, Thomas, M.l)., 84, Manchester Road, Burnley. Deedes, Rev. C., 2, Clifton Terrace, Brighton. Dickinson, Rev. F. J., 79, Salisbury Road, Wavertree, Liverpool. Duguid, T. Basil, 2, Bertram Road, Sefton Park, Liverpool (2 copies). Dullea, Owen J., South Kensington Museum, London, S.W. Dunstan, Frederick W., Burltons, Donhead, Salisbury (2 copies). Earwaker, J. P., Pensarn, Abergele, North Wales (2 copies). Ellison, T. , West Kirby, Cheshire. Emery, Frederick W. , Tregunter Road, South Kensington, London. Esdaile, George, The Old Rectory, Platt-in-Rusholme, Manchester. Evans, Rev. E. F. , St. Margaret’s, Woodhouse Road, Leytonstone. Evans, Rev. George Eyre, the Hermitage Club, Whitchurch, Shropshire. Ew'en, E. A. R. , London. Failsworth Industrial Co-operative Society, Ed. Dept. , Dob Lane, Fails- worth, near Manchester. Fairbank, F. R., M.l)., 59, Warrior Square, St.-Leonards-on-Sea. Feather, Rev. George, Glazebury Vicarage, Manchester. Field, Rev. J. C. Eardley, Rempstone, Loughborough. Finney, Isaac A., 76, Chestergate, Macclesfield. Fisher, Edward, f.s.a. Scot., Abbotsbury, Newton Abbot, Devon (2 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 3i9 Fisher, Samuel S., The Grove, Streatham (2 copies). Foden, William, 12, Beach Lane, Macclesfield (2 copies). Forshaw, John, 21, Sefton Drive, Liverpool. Fox, — , Esquire, Liverpool. France, James, Bank House, Uppermill, near Oldham. i Gair, Henry W. , Smithdown Road, Wavertree, Liverpool (4 copies). Gair, J. Hamilton, Wood Find, Storeton Road, Birkenhead. Galloway, Miss, c/o Messrs. Moran, Galloway, & Co., King Street, Liverpool. Galloway, R. M., 13, King Street, Liverpool. Gamble, Colonel David, c. b., Windlehurst, St. Helens, Lancashire. Gaskell, Miss, Woolton Wood, Woolton, near Liverpool. Gatehouse, Charles, Westwood, Noctorum, Birkenhead. Gibbons, Messrs. F. & E. , 19, Ranelagh Street, Liverpool (2 copies). Gladstone, Robert, Woolton Vale, Liverpool, E. Goffey, Thomas, Blundellsands, near Liverpool. Goldstraw, W., Municipal Offices, Dale Street, Liverpool. Gordon, Miss Eleanor J. A., Kenmure House, Blundellsands, near Liverpool. Gough, H., Sandcroft, Redhill, Surrey. Gray, J. M., Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh. Greenall, Lady, Walton Hall, Warrington. Gregson, William E. , 43, Moor Lane, Great Crosby, near I.iverpool. Greig, Andrew, 36, Belmont Gardens, Hillhead, Glasgow. Grenside, Rev. William Bent, M.A., Melling Vicarage, Carnforth. Griffith, Rev. H. T., Smallburgh Rectory, Norwich. Guest, William H., 57, King Street, Manchester. Guildhall Library, London, E.C. IFaggerston, W. J., Public Library, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2 copies). Hale, George C., Knowsley, Prescot (2 copies). Hales, Professor, 1, Oppidans Road, London, N.W. Harker, J., 11, Scotland Place, Liverpool. Harker, Robert Brook, 27, Great Western Street, Alexandra Park, Manchester. Harrison, William, 112, Lansdowne Road, Didsbury, Manchester. Herford, Rev. R. Travers, The Parsonage, Stand, Manchester. Hervey, Rev. Thomas, Colmer Rectory, Alton, Hants. Ileywood, Thomas, 23, Queen Street, Oldham. Hill, Arthur G., F.S.A., 19, Carlingford Road, Hampstead, London, N.W. Ilovenden, Robert, f.s.a., Ileathcote, Park Hill Road, Croydon, Surrey. How'orth, Daniel F., f.s.a. Scot., Grafton Place, Ashton-under- Lyne. Hughes, John, Wynnsay, Sefton Park, Liverpool. Hughes, Rev. T. Cann, M.A., The Groves, Chester. Hutchinson, Rev. W. , Howden. Hutton, Mrs. John, 29, The Avenue, Eastbourne, Sussex. Hutton, William L. , Moss Bank, Aughton, Ormskirk. Irvine, William Fergusson, 18, Devonshire Road, Claughton, Birkenhead. Jacobson, Thomas E. , Sleaford, Lincolnshire. James, Francis, Edgeworth Manor, Cirencester. Jeans, Rev. G. IS., Shorwell Vicarage, Newport, Isle of Wight. Jeeves, William John, Town Hall, St. Helens, Lancashire. Jevons, George, 39, Hope Street, Liverpool. 320 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. * Jevons, G. Walter, 39, Hope Street, Liverpool. Jevons, Henry, 9, Gambier Terrace, Hope Street, Liverpool. Jevons, Thomas Edmund, Messrs. Busk & Jevons, Produce Exchange, New York, U.S.A. Jones, Charles W. , Field House, Wavertree, Liverpool. Jones, E. A. Hawkins, 67, Waldeck Avenue, Bedford, Bedfordshire. Jones, Miss L. Knight, Montagu G., Chawton House, Alton, Hants. Knox, Archibald, Douglas, Isle of Man. Langley, A. F. , Golding, Peterston-super-Ely, near Cardiff. Lees, Lieut. -Colonel Edward B. , Thurland Castle, Kirkby Lonsdale. Leigh, Arthur G., f.r.s.l., Chorcliffe House, Chorley, Lancashire. Leveson Gower, Granville, f.s.a., Titsey Place, Limpsfield, Surrey. Liverpool Free Public Library. Lupton Bros., Burnley. Mackie, W. , Priory Chambers, Union Street, Oldham. Macklin, Rev. Herbert \V., Prince Town, Devon. Manchester Free Library. Manning, Rev. C. R. , K.S.A., Diss Rectory, Norfolk. Mansergh, James Fleming, Clougha, Hargreaves Road, Sefton Park, Liverpool. Master, Rev. G. S., Bourton Grange, Flax-Bourton, Bristol. Matthews, William, 60, Rodney Street, Liverpool. May, William, Free Public Library, Birkenhead. McCormick, Rev. F., f.s.a. Scot., etc., Ilkeston. Meade-King, H. W. , Sandfield Park, West Derby, Liverpool. Meade-King, Richard R., Sandfield Park, West Derby, Liverpool. Mewburn, Colonel John, Myrtle, Sidmouth, Devon. Milne, John, Elmsley Road, Mossley Hill, Liverpool. Milne-Redhead, R., F.L.S., Holden Clough, Clitheroe, Lancashire. Moore, Colonel, C.B., f.s.a., Frampton Hall, near Boston, Lincolnshire. Morgan, Joseph B. , Stand House, Child wall, near Liverpool. Morton, T. N. , 3, Hicks Road, Seaforth, Liverpool. Musker, F., 68, Walton Village, Liverpool. Myres, Edward, 9, Bank Parade, Preston. Myres, T. Harrison, Sunnyside, Ashton-upon-Ribble, near Preston (2 copies). New, Geoffrey, Green Hill Park, Evesham (2 copies). Nicholson, J. Holme, Whitefield, Wilmslow, Cheshire. Norris, Edward S. , Clifton Villa, Llanelly. Oldham Public Free Libraries. Oulton, W. , j.p. , Hillside, Gateacre, Liverpool. Owen, William, Cairo Street Chambers, Warrington. Patchett, John, Mildred House, Undercliffe Lane, Bradford. Peet, Henry, Mount Pleasant, Liverpool. Philips, John William, Ileybridge Tean, Stoke-upon-Trent. Phillips, Moro, West Street House, Chichester, Sussex. Pilkington, Lt. -Colonel John, Sandown Park, Wavertree, Liverpool. Platt, John, j.p., Clifton Lodge, Llandudno. Powell, Rev. Ed., Lydiate, Liverpool. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Quaile, Edward, Lynmore, Palm Grove, Claughton, Birkenhead. Quinn, Mrs., Woodcroft Gateacre, Liverpool (4 copies). Radcliffe, R. D., M.A., F.s. A., Old Swan, Liverpool. Radford, Dr., Sidmouth, Devon. Randal], Joseph, Bank Chambers, George Street, Sheffield. Rathbone, Harold, The Cottage, Greenbank, Wavertree, Liverpool. Reade, T. Mellard, Canning Chambers, South John Street, Liverpool. Rennie, Wallace, Chronicle Office, Oldham (2 copies). Rhind, James, 9, Orange Court, Castle Street, Liverpool. Richardson, Henry S., 163, Algernon Road, Greenwich, London, S. E. Rigby, W. Edward, 14, Water Street, Liverpool. Ripon, The Lord Bishop of. Robinson, Arthur V., Clitheroe Castle, Clitheroe. Rodiclc, Miss Janet Preston, Gangmoor, Hampstead, London (2 copies). Roper, W. O., Lancaster. Roscoe, Miss, Cliff Cottage, Woolton, Liverpool. Roscoe, Philip, 93, Fellows Road, London, N.W. Roscoe, William M. , Crete Hill, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol. Roughsedge, Miss, Birkenhead. Rowland, George J. , 14, Parkdale, Wolverhampton. Royds, Clement M., Greenhill, Rochdale. Russell, R. II., The Grange, Chalfont St. Peter, Bucks. (2 copies). Rylands, J. Paul, Heather Lea, Charlesville, Birkenhead. Rylands, W. Harry, 37, Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London, W.C. Samuelson, Edward, Drws y Coed, Trefriw. Sandbach, John E. , Brearley, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Sanderson, H. K. St.. J., 58, Castle Road, Bedford. Saunders, Rev. F., Hoylake, Cheshire. Scarlett, Mrs. Leopold, 5, Tregunter Road, South Kensington, London. Scorer, i|William, a.r.i.b.a. , Bank Street Chambers, Lincoln. Shaw, Giles, F. r. h.s. , 72, Manchester Street, Oldham. Shaw, James B. , 4, Chapel Walks, Manchester. Sheppard, C. W. , Liverpool. Shute, Arthur, 3, India Buildings, Water Street, Liverpool (2 copies). Simpkin, Edmund, 9, Spring Street, Bury. Sing, Alexander M., Browside, Mossley Hill, Liverpool. Slater, A. A., St. Helen’s, near Liverpool. Smith, Charles Clement, Limehurst, Knowle, Warwickshire. Smith, Tom C. , F. r.h.s. , Green Nook, Longridge, Preston. South Kensington Museum, Department of Science and Art. Stables, Mrs. Henry, Scotland Lane, Horsforth, near Leeds. Stephenson, Mill, 14, Ritherdon Road, Upper Tooting, London, S.W. (2 copies). Sterry, Rev. Francis, Poltimore Rectory, Exeter. Stewart, Rev. J., F. r.h.s., The Terrace, Penryn, Cornwall. Stone, Edward, 5, Finsbury Circus, London, E. C. Swindells, George H., 7, Cranbourne Road, Heaton Moor, near Stock- port (2 copies). Taylor, Henry, Braeside, Rusthall, Tunbridge Wells. Taylor, Rev. R. V. , Mellsecks Vicarage, near Richmond, Yorkshire. Tempest, Mrs. A. C. , Coleby Hall, near Lincoln. Thompson, Joseph, Riversdale, Wilmslow, Cheshire. Y 3 22 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Thornely, Charles, Hadleigh Lodge, East Molesey, Surrey. Thornely, Edward, 52, Harley Street, London, W. Thornely, Frederick, Helsby via Warrington. Thornely, James, Baycliffe, Woolton, near Liverpool (6 copies). Thornely, John, Esher, Surrey (2 copies). Thornely, John, Flowery Field, Hyde (2 copies). Thornely, Mrs., Baycliffe, Woolton, near Liverpool. Thornely, Thomas Heath, Landore, Claughton, Birkenhead. Thornely, Thomas, M.A., LL.B., Trinity Hall, Cambridge. 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Bound in doth gilt, demy Boo. 6 ; Curioetfiee of £0urc0 : Studies of Curious Customs, Services, and Records, By WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S, Author of “Historic Romance,” “Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs,” “Historic Yorkshire,” etc. CONTENTS : Early Religious Plays : being the Story of the English Stage in its Church Cradle Days — The Caistor Gad-Whip Manorial Service — Strange Serpent Stories — Church Ales — Rush-Bearing — Fish in Lent — Concerning Doles — Church Scrambling Chari- ties — Briefs— Bells and Beacons for Travellers by Night — Hour Glasses in Churches— Chained Books in Churches — Funeral Effigies — Torchlight Burials — Simple Memorials of the Early Dead— The Romance of Parish Registers — Dog Whippers and Sluggard Wakers — Odd Items from Old Accounts— A carefully compiled Index. — ILLUSTRATED. Iprees ©pinions. “A volume both entertaining and instructive, throwing much light on the manners and customs of bygone generations of Churchmen, and will be read to-day with much interest.” — Newbery House Magazine. “An extremely interesting volume.” — North British Daily Mail. “ A work of lasting interest.” — Hull Examiner. “ The reader will find much in this book to interest, instruct, and amuse .” — Hows Chimes. “ We feel sure that many will feel grateful to Mr. Andrews for having produced suer an interesting book.” — The Antiquary. “ A volume of great research and striking interest.” — The Bookbuyer ( New York}. “A valuable book.” — Literary World (Boston, U.S.A.). “An admirable book.” — Sheffield Independent. “An interesting, handsomely got up volume. . . , Mr. Andrews is always chatty and expert in making a paper on a dry subject exceedingly readable.” — Newcastle Courant “Mr. William Andrews’ new book, ‘Curiosities of the Church,’ adds another to the series by which he has done so much to popularise antiquarian studies. . . . The book, it should be added, has some quaint illustrations, and its rich matter is made available foi reference by a full and car^fullv coniDiled index.” — Scotsman. HULL: WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., THE HULL PRESS. London : Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co. Elegantly bound in cloth gilt, demy 8uo., price 6s. Ofb Cpttrc# Eore. By WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S., Author of * ‘ Curiosities of the Church ,” “ Old-Time Punishments," “ Historic Romance ,” etc. CONTENTS. The Right of Sanctuary— The Romance of Trial— A Fight between the Mayor of Hull and the Archbishop of York— Chapels on Bridges— Charter Horns— The Old English Sunday — The Easter Sepulchre — St. Paul’s Cross— Cheapside Cross— The Biddenden Maids Charity —Plagues and Pestilences— A King Curing an Abbot of Indigestion— The Services and Customs of Royal Oak Day— Marrying in a White Sheet— Marrying under the Gallows— Kissing the Bride— Hot Ale at Weddings —Marrying Children — The Passing Bell — Concerning Coffins— The Curfew Bell— Curious Symbols of the Saints —Acrobats on Steeples— A carefully-prepared Index. ILLUSTRATED er>t_s> -w- PRESS OPINIONS. +*- “ A worthy work on a deeply interesting subject. . . . We commend this book strongly.” — European Hail. “ An interesting volume.” — The Scotsman. “Contains much that will interest and instruct.” — Glasgow Herald. “ The author has produced a book which is at once entertaining and valuable, and which is also entitled to unstinted praise on the ground of its admirable printing and binding.” — Shields Daily Gazette. “Mr. Andrews’ book does not contain a dull page. . . . Deserves to meet with a very warm welcome.” — Yorkshire Post. “ Mr. Andrews, in ‘ Old Church Lore,’ makes the musty parchments and records he has consulted redolent with life and actuality, and has added to his works a most interesting volume, which, written in a light and easy narrative style, is anything but of the ‘ dry-as-dust ’ order. The book is handsomely got up, being both bound and printed in an artistic fashion. ’’—Northern Daily yews. HULL : WILLIAM ANDREWS & C0-, THE HULL PRESS London : Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co. Elegantly bound in doth gilt, croum quarto, price 10s. 6d. By WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S., Author of “ Curiosities of the Church,” “Historic Romance,” “Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs,” “Historic Yorkshire,” etc. Carefully prepared papers, profusely illustrated, appear The Ducking Stool — The Brank, or Scold's Bridle — The Pillory — Punishing Authors and burning books — Finger-Pillory — The Jougs — The Stocks — The Drunkard's Cloak — Whipping — Public Penance in White Sheets — -The Repentance-Stool — Riding the Stang — Gibbet Lore — Drowning — Burning to Death — Boiling to Death — Beheading — Hanging, Drawing, and Quartering — Pressing to Death — Hanging — Hanging in Chains — The Halifax Gibbet — The Scottish Maiden, etc. — An Index of five closely-printed pages. “ This is an entertaining book . . . well-chosen illustrations and a serviceable index. ” —A tlienccum. “ A hearty reception may be bespoken for it.” — Globe. “A work which will be eagerly read by all who take it up.” — Scotsman. “ It is entertaining.” — Manchester Guardian. “ A vast amount of curious and entertaining matter.” — Sheffield Independent. “ We can honestly recommend a perusal of this book.” — Yorkshire Post. “ Interesting, and handsomely printed.” — Newcastle Chronicle. “A very readable history.” — Birmingham Daily Gazette. “Mr. Andrews’ book is well worthy of careful study, and is a perfect mine of wealth on the subject of which it treats.” — Herts Adcertiser. “ It is sure of a warm welcome on both sides of the Atlantic.” — Christian Leader . CONTENTS. on the following subjects : MANY CURIOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. PRESS OPINIONS. HULL : WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., THE HULL PRESS. London : Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co. Elegantly bound in cloth gilt, demy 8uo., 6s. Q^ggone (£ngfanl>: Social Studies in its Historic Byways and Highways By WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S. Author of “ Old Church Lore,” “ Curiosities of the Church “ Old Time Punishments etc. Contents : Under Watch and Ward. Under Lock and Key. The Practice of Pledging'. The Minstrel in the Olden Time. Curious Landholding Customs. Curiosities of Slavery in England. Buying and Selling in the Olden Time. Curious Fair Customs. Old Prejudices against Coal. The Sedan-Chair. Running Footmen. The Early Days of the Umbrella. A Talk about Tea. Concerning Coffee. The Horn-Book. Fighting-Cocks in Schools. Bull-Baiting. The Badge of Poverty. Patents to wear Nightcaps. A Foolish Fashion. Wedding Notices in the Last Century. Selling Wives. The Story of the Tinder Box. The Invention of Friction Matches. Body Snatching. Christmas Under the Commonwealth. Under the Mistletoe Bough. A carefully prepared Index. NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS, ■° ©pinions of the flress. The following are a few extracts from a large number of favourable, reviews of “ Bygone England ” :■ — “We welcome ‘ Bygone England. ’ It is another of Mr. Andrews’ meri- torious achievements in the path of popularising archaeological and old-time information without in any way writing down to an ignoble level.”' — The Antiquary. “This is a book which will give instruction as well as entertainment to all who read it, and it will serve to awaken interest in the old and quaint customs of our native land.” — Salat s fournal. “ The volume is admirably got up, and its contents are at once entertaining and instructive. Mr. Andrews is quite a master of curious and out of the way knowledge. ” — Scottish Leader. “ ‘ A delightful book,’ is the verdict that the reader will give after a perusal of its pages. Mr. Andrews has presented to us in very pleasing form some phases of the s®cial life of England in the olden time.” — Publishers' Circular. “Some of the chapters are very interesting, and are most useful for those who desire to know the origin and history of some of our daily practices and amusements.”- — The World. “ In recommending this book to the general public, we do so, feeling con- fident that within it pages they will find much that is worth knowing, that they will never find their interest flag, nor their curiosity ungratified.” — Hull Daily News. “A volume which may be cordially recommended to all who love to stray- in historical byways.” — Shields Daily Gazette. “ A very readable and instructive volume.” — The Globe. “Many are the subjects of interest introduced in this chatty volume.” — Saturday Review. . “ A delightful volume for all who love to dive into the origin of social habits and customs, and to penetrate into the byways of history.” — Liverpool Daily Post. “There is a large mass of information in this capital volume, and it is so pleasantly put that many will be tempted to study it. Mr. Andrews has done his work with great skill.” — London Quarterly Review. “ It is impossible to read this book without a feeling of gratitude to Mr. Andrews for his labours. The subjects have been so well selected, and are treated in so attractive a manner, that the reader may open the volume at any- page and find something which will rivet his attention. ... A good index is provided, and the book is well printed and got up.” — Manchester Examiner. “This informing and readable book will be welcome in any household.” — Yorkshire Post. Hull : William Andrews & Co., The Hull Press. London : Hutchinson & Co. Z AN IMPORTANT BOOK FOR REFERENCE. Fcap 4to. Bevelled boards, gilt tops. Price 4s. FAMOUS FROSTS and FROST FAIRS IN GREAT BRITAIN. Gbronicleb from tbe Earliest to tbe present Gime. By WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S. Author of “ Curiosities of the Church,” “ Old-Time Punishments,” etc. Only 4G0 copies printed, each copy numbered, and only 20 remain on sale. Three curious full-page illustrations. T HIS work furnishes a carefully prepared account of all the great Frosts occurring in this country from a.d. 134 to 18S7. The numerous Frost Fairs on the Thames are fully described, and illustrated with quaint woodcuts, and several old ballads relating to the subject are reproduced. It is tastefully printed and elegantly bound. The following are a few of the many favourable reviews of “ Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs.” “ The work is thoroughly well written, it is careful in its facts, and may be pronounced exhaustive on the subject. Illustrations are given of several frost fairs on the Thames, and as a trustworthy record this volume should be in every good library. The usefulness of the work is much enhanced by a good index.” — Public. Opinion. “ The book is beautifully got up.” — Barnsley Independent. “ A very interesting volume.” — Northern Daily Telegraph. “ A great deal of curious and valuable information is contained in these pages. ... A comely volume.” — Literary World. “ The work from first to last is a most attractive one, and the arts alike of printer and binder have been brought into one to give it a pleasing form.” — Wakefield Free Press. “ An interesting ancl valuable work.” — West Middlesex Times. “ Not likely to fail in interest.” — Manchester Guardian. “ This chronology has been a task demanding extensive research and considerable labour and patience, and Mr. Andrews is to be heartily congratulated on the result.”— Derby Daily Gazette. “A volume of much interest and great importance.” — Rotherham Advertiser. HULL: WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., THE HULL PRESS. London : Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co., Ld. Elegant ly bound in doth gilt, demy 8uo., 7s. 6d. (0£